Former The View co-host Meghan McCain was called out after she criticized Violet Affleck, the daughter of actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, after she spoke candidly at the United Nations about the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Affleck discussed both COVID-19 and its lingering form, long COVID, explaining that she herself has been affected by the latter. She noted that the condition can linger well past the initial infection, bringing symptoms such as dizziness and shortness of breath.
The 19-year-old Yale student sharply criticized society’s rush back to a mask-free “normal,” saying people living with long COVID have been largely abandoned by the rest of the world. She cautioned that many children “will not know a world without debilitating pain and exhaustion, who cannot trust their bodies to play, explore, and imagine” because of the virus.
McCain couldn't help but express her annoyance, saying:
"Every single thing about all of this is why people hate nepo babies so much. She has no business speaking at the UN and what she is speaking about is patently absurd."
She later deleted the tweet amid backlash.
You can see her since-deleted tweet below.
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That's a funny statement coming from someone born into wealth and privilege as the eldest daughter of the late Arizona Republican Senator John McCain and his second wife, Cindy Lou McCain (née Hensley), the daughter of a wealthy beer distributor.
McCain later published another comment claiming the media had blown her words out of proportion and defended her "nepo baby" remark, saying "it takes one to know one":
"Some journalist are clutching their pearls mad I called Violet Affleck a nepo baby so I'm giving you all a response here instead of answering your emails: First, it takes one to know one. I'm clearly a nepo baby, check my twitter bio."
"Say whatever you want about me, my parents would have NEVER been okay with me speaking in front of the United Nations at 19 about a health issue I had no background, training or experience in. Having famous parents is a double edged sword and if you're going to put yourself out there, you gotta take the heat (as I have always done)."
"Finally - anyone advocating that I mask my kids all day in 2025 I think is insane, and that is my right. Have a nice day."
Her response didn't go over well and she was quickly called out for her hypocrisy again.
Affleck is an outspoken health activist and last year encouraged the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors to make masks more widely available and to oppose mask bans.
Noting that she contracted a post-viral condition in 2019 and has since recovered, she said she "saw firsthand that medicine does not always have the answers to the consequences of even minor viruses." She also stressed that the virus "hurts communities of color, disabled people, elderly people, trans people, women, and anyone in a public-facing essential job the hardest."
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