Meghan McCain is not here for former View co-host Sherri Shepherd‘s critiques.
The 33-year-old Republican television personality (and daughter of Sen. John McCain) spoke out against Shepherd’s criticisms of her performance on the long-running ABC talk show during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on Wednesday.
Shepherd — who co-hosted The View from 2007 to 2014 — was also appearing on the Bravo late night show earlier in the week when she was asked about how McCain was doing, 9 months into the gig.
“You know, she just has to evolve,” the comedian, 51, said. “She has to get used to sitting there at that table. And I think she has to not take the whole Republican world on her shoulders. It’s too much to take that whole world. You’re not the Republican voice. It makes you stress, it makes you tense, so being able to lighten up a little.”
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That didn’t sit well with McCain.
“I was super bummed out when I saw her saying that,” she told Cohen on Wednesday.
“The View, it’s a tough show that’s really political heavy,” she continued. “We’re a news show now and it’s not the show that she once hosted. Right now, and not to make this too heavy, but in Trump’s America, we shouldn’t be telling women to lighten up. It’s a serious time. We can take things seriously.”
Previously, McCain addressed Shepherd’s words on Twitter, responding to an article about the comments.
“Sad to hear this from @SherriEShepherd,” she wrote. “The Trump years are incredibly intense and tumultuous times. I believe all women today should be taking the world we live in and our place in it very seriously.”
In response, Shepherd apologized.
“My response to @Andy on #WWHL wasn’t intended to be anything but constructive,” she wrote. “We have talked at length privately & I’ve been nothing but supportive of you & everyone who has co-hosted @TheView. If I came across as not being supportive of you, that wasn’t my intent.”
“I can not control how my words are reinterpreted for tabloids and gossip blogs,” Shepherd added. “I can only take ownership of my intent and my truth. #supporterofwomen.”
McCain joined The View in October, replacing panelist spots formerly filled by Jedediah Bila and Candace Cameron Bure.
The show, which premiered in 1997, is currently going through a bit of a structural change with Sara Haines leaving to join Michael Strahan as co-host of Good Morning America‘s new third hour. The View contributor Paula Faris is also leaving.
Discussions about their potential replacements are already underway, with a source previously telling PEOPLE that Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Abby Huntsman and regular CNN contributor Ana Navarro are at the top of the list. McCain is returning next season, as is Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, and Sunny Hostin.
Asked on WWHL if she hopes the panel adds another conservative, McCain said she wasn’t worried.
“It’s not important to me to have another Republican on the show. I think I can hold my own, and I’m very strong,” she told Cohen, adding, “Would it be nice? Of course.”
Mostly, she said she was excited to return for another year, joking, “I’m coming back next season, and I got re-signed, and that’s all I really care about.”
“I’m just so happy that I lasted more than a year because no one has done it since Elisabeth [Hasselbeck] in that Republican seat,” she added later, on the WWHL After-Show. “I never humblebrag, but I think that one I can take out.”
“I think we finally got into a groove on the show,” she told Cohen. “I came on here before and you were like, ‘You look like you hate it.’ And it was rough landing getting into The View. But it’s really good now.”
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She also once again squashed rumors that she is feuding with View co-host Joy Behar.
“I genuinely have such affection for her,” McCain said. “I really am over this ‘feuding of Meghan and Joy’ [rumor]. We fight like boxers and then we get out in the match and we pump glove and we’re good.”
“I love Joy,” she added. “She’s really fun to go drinking with. Even though she can have one drink and she’s wasted.”
The View airs weekdays (11 a.m. ET) on ABC.
