Meghan McCain said Thursday that Republicans need to fight “battles in uncomfortable places,” arguing that the culture war was the place to begin.
McCain joined her cohosts on ABC’s “The View” in a discussion about a poll indicating a dramatic uptick in American voters who identify as Democrats. Noting the importance of a simultaneous uptick in those who identify as independent, McCain argued that better messaging would benefit Republicans.
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“Meghan, what do you think of the state of the party right now? Is there — are people trying to figure out where they fit as Americans or Republicans do you think? Are they questioning that? Do you think that’s why the shift is happening?” Co-host Whoopi Goldberg asked McCain.
“I think it’s an interesting time for the Republican Party. Quite frankly we’ll figure it out among ourselves. I don’t need any Democrat or anybody on the left telling me what to do or how to think. We’ll figure it out internally amongst ourselves,” McCain replied. (RELATED: ‘This Is Healing The Soul Of A Nation?’: Meghan McCain Blasts Biden For Targeting Georgia Over Election Law)
McCain went on to note that despite the polling, Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene had “insane gangbusters” fundraising in the first months of the year, out-raising Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez by quite a bit.
“I wouldn’t be so quick to count Republicans out,” McCain continued. “When you’re talking about more and more people going to independents, that’s very important and significant.”
McCain went onto argue that some of those independents might have been turned off by former President Donald Trump, but they still could be pulling the lever for Republicans in down-ticket races.
Pivoting to the “culture war,” McCain mentioned the late Andrew Breitbart and his message to conservatives and Republicans.
“We have quite frankly done a piss poor job of explaining why we’re conservative, why we believe in small government, why the ideals of William F. Buckley and Ronald Reagan are a better way to run the government, explaining our successes,” McCain concluded. “We have to start fighting these battles in uncomfortable spaces. It can’t only be on Newsmax and Fox News. We have to go into places where people don’t like us and explain and proselytize and get people to understand why we believe what we believe. Because right now, all of you are right, we are losing the culture war and it’s a big problem.”