Meghan McCain slams comparisons of J.D. Vance to Sarah Palin

Former cohost of The View and cactus connoisseur Meghan McCain thinks that comparisons between J.D. Vance and her late father’s vice president pick Sarah Palin make for a prickly combination.

The daughter of Senator John McCain — who ran as the Republican candidate for president against Barack Obama in 2008 — on Monday slammed those comparing current presidential candidate Donald Trump’s newly selected running mate, Hillbilly Elegy subject Vance, calling critics “politically ignorant” for making the assessment.

“There’s absolutely no comparison between Vance and Sarah Palin – she’s wildly charming, garnered a lot of enthusiasm from women, got a +26 bump after the convention and made a hell of a convention speech,” McCain posted on X, referencing Vance’s reported dip in favorability after Trump selected the far-right Ohio senator to join him on the Republican ticket.

“She was a giant help (at first),” McCain continued. “The comparison is politically ignorant.”

McCain’s message comes amid sustained fallout from Vance’s past comments — including a recently resurfaced 2021 interview clip in which he named political figures like Kamala Harris and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as examples of “childless cat ladies” running America.

The quip drew ire from a wide range of figures from conservatives (like McCain) and others, including her former View colleague Whoopi Goldberg, actress Jennifer Aniston, and pop star Kesha.

Vance pushed back on criticism against him, telling Megyn Kelly last week that he took issue with Aniston referencing his daughter in her assessment of his words.

“You’ve got Hollywood celebrities saying, ‘Oh, well, J.D. Vance, what if your daughter suffered fertility problems?'” he said. “Well, first of all, that’s disgusting because my daughter is 2 years old. And second of all, if she had fertility problems, as I said in that speech, I would try everything I could to try to help her because I believe families and babies are a good thing.”

On Friday, McCain also pointed out a double-standard in Vance’s comments.

“Just curious why JD Vance isn’t concerned about Senators like Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott who are both childless and unmarried and their commitment to America?” she posted on X. “They’re in positions of high power in the government – does JD think they should have less voting power?”

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

McCain, a conservative pundit, has also received pushback over problematic comments in the past. On a January episode of her Citizen McCain podcast, the 39-year-old spoke out against Vice President Kamala Harris — currently running against Trump for president — for making her feel “uncomfortable” and that she’s “really unserious” about important issues.

“If anything, Vice President Harris has proven to me that maybe a woman can’t be Vice President. I actually think she’s setting feminism back 10 years,” McCain continued. “Why is it that Black voters and people like me have such a strong adverse reaction to her? I have a very strong adverse reaction to her. It’s not because of sexism. There are so many female politicians I love and respect that I’d be happy with being President.”