"The View" co-host Meghan McCain suggested that President Donald Trump rescued the economy from former President Barack Obama.
McCain's praise came with a double edge, however, as she ripped the current president's blundered response to the coronavirus pandemic and his inability to find his political footing afterward.
"We are at 30 million people officially on unemployment," McCain said, "which has officially surpassed the the level it was at during the Great Depression. A lot of people in a lot of pain, and we're seeing pictures of people just -- food banks just completely overwhelmed."
The president and his son-in-law Jared Kushner praised the administration's response, despite more than 63,000 dead and a wrecked economy, and McCain said Trump had fumbled his political messaging.
"This is not a moment in time to be bragging where we're at, and as President [Harry] Truman said, the buck does stop with the president," McCain said, "and I would have preferred a Ronald Reagan 'morning in America' hopeful optimism, saying, 'Look, I brought the economy back to this amazing place, and I'll do it again.'"
The economy did improve under Trump until the pandemic erased years of gains, but the expansion actually began under Obama following the 2008 recession.
"I think his ego continues to get in the way," McCain said, "and any other conservative president would really highlight themselves when it comes to the economy and fiscal conservatism, and the grit and ingenuity of the American people. Had he come out with something inspirational for the American public, I think it would have been much more effective."
