Meghan McCain called out Seth Meyers on his show Tuesday, accusing the “Late Night” host of running defense for Rep. Ilhan Omar and her remarks about Israel. As things became increasingly testy, McCain said Meyers was acting like Omar’s publicist.
“Is there a way for people to talk about differences in Israeli policy without getting framed as anti-semitic language?” Meyers asked McCain — who has frequently criticized Omar’s past remarks as anti-semitic.
“Yeah, I just think you can’t talk about Jews hypnotizing the world, talking about all about the benjamins,” McCain responded referencing this tweet and this tweet that Omar has since apologized for (and deleted).
“You do keep bringing up the two tweets that she’s apologized for, and I think that’s a little unfair to her,” the NBC late-night host pressed.
“Are you her publicist? Are you her press person?” McCain said. “I am not sure what would make you happy coming out of my mouth right now. I am genuinely curious.”
Reps for McCain at “The View” and Meyers at NBC did not immediately respond to request for comment.
As co-host of “The View,” McCain has become one of Rep. Omar’s toughest critics and has zeroed in on the freshman lawmakers criticisms of Israel.
A broad swath of commentators on the left and right have repeatedly condemned Omar’s tough criticism of the country as “anti-semitic.” Omar does retain a hard core of defenders on the far left and among the Democratic Socialists of America who have tried to draw a distinction between legitimate criticism of Israel and anti-semitism.
Omar most recently made news after snippets of a speech she gave to a fundraiser for the Council on American Islamic Relations went viral last month. Critics zeroed in on a portion of her remarks which they said minimized the 9/11 terrorist attacks as “some people” who “did something.”
The New York Post led the charge of conservative outrage over the moment, running a front page featuring the burning World Trade Center towers.
“Rep Ilhan Omar: 9/11 Was ‘Some People Did Something,’” blared the front cover. “Here’s your something — 2,977 people dead by terrorism.”
You can watch the McCain-Meyers interview above.