Meghan McCain chooses not to back either presidential candidate

appreciate you listening to the Mike broomhead show we um uh looking forward to this conversation it seems like we can never make the schedule work we try to catch up with each other as often as we can joining us right now is Megan McCain Megan it is so good to talk to you oh my gosh Mike I love talking to you and thank you for having me on today I really appreciate it yeah you know it seems as if your family remains in the spotlight your father was such a household name in American politics for so long and now with this presidential his name is being used uh really on both sides of the aisle once again I know that your your brother has made some headlines with an endorsement of the vice president but you have come out I just read a story this morning that says you are not going to support either candidate can you explain that yeah I mean I uh am a lifelong conservative my literally my entire life and working in conservative politics and conservative media has been my entire life uh just you know when it comes to work and profession my professional life um and I really believe in what I am you know preaching to people I believe in the movement I believe in the ideals and of the Republican party I believe in limited government I'm very prif I'm very pro-military um and just because there's been a lot of personal animus and you know feuding between myself and my family and the Trump family it doesn't mean that everything I believe believe in goes out the window and for me which I understand it's not this way for some people but for me the Republican party isn't just Trump it's not just trumpism and it it never has been and it never will be and uh you know I I very deeply love and respect my brother Jimmy I I think you know him as well he's very fun and he's very kind and uh you know I respect his decision but uh you know I I think vice president Harris is a existential threat to the country and uh she to say she will not be getting my personal endorsement is putting it mildly so let's talk about the balance because when when it came to your father and and and the former president I I used to say on the air that I felt like a kid caught up in a horrible divorce that neither side liked each other I didn't want them to continue to to fight with each other but it's different for you you are a family member and I know how much you loved your father um and I know that there were some things that said that really were bothersome but I also watched you when you were on The View defend the things that happened when you thought the former president was doing the right things how were you able to detach that horrible personal feeling from what you were witnessing and what you saw well it's a very tricky tight RPP to walk because you know obviously politics is is human nature it is what we respond to as humans what inspires us what angers us what frustrates us like that's why I like it so much because I think it's a a complete reflection of just who we are as Americans on a very very basic level um you know president Trump I don't need to relitigate with you or your audience everyone is well aware of the things that were said and done when my dad was alive and as he was dying and if I came on your show and said you know what forget it it's fine put that aside like I'm for Trump now you would Al you and your audience would think I was a sociopath uh for me like I think most people blood is sicker than water and my loyalty to my family and to my dad is a all else and the Trump family and president Trump himself has had years and years and years to make this right and they have chosen not to and this could have been fixed and solved a long time ago and he's the one that started it he's the one that exacerbated it and it's been very painful uh you know just emotionally so for that reason alone he would never get my endorsement because I love my dad more than anyone and I would never do anything to betray him or hurt him and it's a real shame because had none of this happened I think uh you know I truly believe in my heart and I know from just data and polling there are a whole sloth of Republicans specifically in the state of Arizona who consider themselves McCain Republicans and who will not vote for someone who has trashed my family and that's very uncomfortable for people like Carri Lake right now and again the thing I don't understand more than anything is people like me are willing to come to the table and I know that I'm called like you know a rhino and you know all these like ugly things by people like Carrie Lake and and right now she's in the last Fox News poll she's losing by 11 11 points do you really think that you are so amazing and interesting and so compelling that you have the luxury of telling voters not to vote for you because their last name is McCain or they like John McCain that's a real problem and I think um you know just politically just the sheer politics of this I'll never understand because if I were running for office I would be like I want all your votes like Republicans Independents my dad you say like vegetarians like you know veterinarians like anybody like vote for me that's the whole point and I think you're this is the reason why we're seeing the party in the place is at and losing elections that quite frankly are unusable now that doesn't mean I think that President Trump is going to lose Arizona in fact I think he will probably win it but you know we have a senate seat right now that I would put big money is going to be lost to ruano Megan McCain is joining us talking about her father's Legacy about the campaign and how her father's name still plays a big role in American politics one of the other things that you've done and there's two things I want to finish with one of them is maintaining your relationships I know that some of your closest friends have come out and endorsed Donald Trump and you've got family members that have endorsed vice president Harris how do you maintain those relationships and the love with both how do how do those relationships work with such a dramatic difference in opinions well I'm an adult I'm not not a child and I've never made politics uh people's political views my entire life some of my closest friends are very Progressive and tulsey gabard is my eldest daughter Liberty's godmother I literally was on the phone with her for about 45 minutes just I don't know a half hour ago right before I called you we are very close she's like a sister to me she's obviously on the road and endorsed president Trump she uh made me well aware of her endorsement before it happened I knew the remarks she was going to make I knew where it was going to happen I helped her pick out her outfit um I I am an adult and I'm a a woman enough to understand that while I have the luxury meaning like you know my husband and I are both gainfully employed uh you know I I come from a family that that you know is is successful in politics and the private sector like I have the luxury of being able to not vote for either candidate because uh I I just ideologically can't bring myself to vote for either of them but I understand that there are some people and I I think this is the strongest argument why so many people I know are voting for Trump despite the fact that they don't like him is that you know when your groceries are costing 50% more this year than they did four years ago and when your gas is costing you know 40% more this year than it was four years ago and you're talking about like you know American families who cannot go on summer vacations because of what groceries cost people just want a good life and they want the economy stable and they want to feel safe and they want these wars to be taken care of or at least have leadership ship in place it looks like it's going to be uh you know an America First agenda where we're going to uh you know actually actually help and win some of these wars particularly I think in our support of Israel and the Harris campaign and vice president Harris is presenting none of that none of that I have zero confidence zero that she is going to help the economy at all she's talking about price gouging groceries that's that's literally the the card caring definition of communism so I understand close people in my life who are like Megan I don't have this luxure you do I also understand there are people in my life that are like I can't get past X Y and Z about President Trump and I just try and show compassion and maturity about both things and politics is deeply personal and um you know I I just i' I've been doing honestly I've been like doing this so long that uh I I Really T tend to really not take things personally unless it's particularly particularly bad well so it sounds like from what you're saying that policy-wise I hear exactly what you're saying and I hope this isn't too personal of a question are you going to abstain or are you going to write in a name are you going to vote for someone else what is the plan when it comes to the presidential race I tend to vote in uh I tend to write in excuse me I've done that like the past three times I believe um yeah I mean for a period of time I was open to voting for RFK and then I just it was it's all he's too much for me and I don't think he's a very serious person in general uh so I'm probably just going to write in uh you know I don't know who I'm going to write in all WR in someone um and it look it's really unfortunate I I'm 40 in a month and I really really want I really I loved Ronda santis I still do I was a big supporter of his when he was running in the primary I love Nikki Haley um I actually would have happily and easily voted for any candidate running for president except maybe thec Ramis swame and even then I probably would have like held my nose and voted for him um so what's sad to me is I do think there's a real missed opportunity when it comes to the gender gap and the generational Gap that someone like Aon de santis could have brought in a whole swath of Voters and like I said if he were the nominee right now I would be like wearing his hats and coming on your show giving all the reasons why I think people should vote for him and um you know for me trumpism is just there's so much baggage and I actually think the most effective tagline the vice president is saying right now is we're not going back because for for all the positives that there were during the Trump years there's a lot of negatives and a lot of chaos as well and I find Trump as a leader very emotionally taxing on top of everything else and I don't I don't want that in a president I don't want to feel like I'm in some weird relationship where I feel like emotionally you know drained from from having them in the white house so um but I'm sure vice president har is gonna do that to me too and uh I think this is a garbage election with garbage candidates and I'm sorry if that's going to make some of your uh listeners angry is just my honest opinion and how I feel Megan that's why I love talking with you you are always honest about how you feel I look forward to talking to you again soon thank you Mike and and you're like just the best I so admire you and you're friends with my dad before he died and I admire your family and um you know I'm just so happy your show is still doing as as incredibly well as it is and I'm just so just so happy to come on thank you thanks Megan that's Megan McCain spending a few moments with us coming up we're going to talk about the economy she's just a blast to talk to um I just love talking with her she's always honest and I think she's bril Brantly smart thanks for watching the Mike broomhead show catch up on Amazing arizonans a KTR News podcast and click the button in the middle to subscribe