Former View co-host Meghan McCain sparred with right-wing personality Candace Owens on Twitter, telling her to "get f*cked" during a tense exchange about the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.
Owens has faced harsh criticism for undermining public health experts, including, but not limited to, her suggestion COVID-19 vaccines do not work.
She made headlines last week for her claim "more people have died under COVID this year," even though "more people took the vaccine this year" which is misleading.
While the United States has certainly lost more lives to COVID-19 this year than last year, the higher death toll was attributed to lower-than-needed vaccination rates in addition to a relaxation of everyday precautions to curb the virus' spread. The rise of the highly contagious Delta variant also contributed to higher death rates, largely among the unvaccinated population.
Owens' statements received considerable pushback from former President Donald Trump, whom she was interviewing at the time. Although Trump has consistently downplayed the pandemic's severity, he shut her down by correcting her on claims about vaccine efficacy, stunning Owens and viewers in the process.
The interview also garneered the attention of McCain, who praised Trump for "schooling" McCain on vaccines. McCain, no fan of Trump, said she has to give "Credit where credit is due."
Owens responded shortly afterward, accusing McCain of only caring about the vaccine because "it allows you [McCain] to pretend that you care about health."
McCain issued a flippant response telling fellow conservative personality Ben Shapiro, who has also pushed falsehoods about the efficacy of vaccines, to "Come get your girl."
As Owens continued misrepresenting facts about COVID-19, McCain taunted her for being corrected by Trump, whom she referred to as Owens's "golden God."
And finally, after Owens lashed out again, this time saying that McCain is "slipping into irrelevancy," McCain took her to task once more.
McCain criticized Owens for fat-shaming her on Instagram and deflecting "the fact that her hero fact-checked her." She told Owens to "Get f*cked," calling her a "danger to public health."
The intensity of the exchange drew considerable attention on social media, with many praising McCain for taking a hard stance against vaccine misinformation.
Owens's penchant for spreading misinformation is not limited to COVID-19 vaccines.
Owens was criticized this week for hawking colloidal silver—which can turn users’ skin permanently blue—as a viable supplement. She claimed to use the colloidal silver everyday, calling it "another one that people probably know nothing about."
In fact, scientists and medical professionals know plenty about colloidal silver–including it can actually turn people's skin blue.
The condition, called argyria, is a blue-gray discoloration of the skin, eyes, internal organs, nails and gums due to a buildup of silver in the body. In rare cases, high doses of colloidal silver can cause seizures and organ damage.
