‘The View’ Crushes Its Competition With Meghan McCain’s Return

Meghan McCain’s return helped The View crush its competition in the ratings after taking time off to mourn the death of her father Senator John McCain.

The conservative panelist, who returned to the show’s Hot Topics table on October 8, helped lead the series, now in its 22nd season, to a whopping 2.9 million total viewers who tuned in to welcome her back to the series.

The show had debuted one week earlier with panelists Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, and newest commentator Abby Huntsman.

McCain’s return, where she discussed her father’s passing, funeral, and family was a touching reunion for the hosts who had not worked together in almost two months due to McCain’s leave and the show’s summer break.

John McCain died of brain cancer this past August.

Missing during McCain’s return was Joy Behar, who was on a scheduled overseas vacation.

McCain posted an Instagram photo of a tweet from Michael Starr from The New York Post who wrote an article about the rating sweep and was quick to thank her fellow panelists for their support during the difficult period following her father’s passing up through today. She also thanked the loyal audience of The View in the photo’s caption.

“Thank you to the wonderful, loyal, incredibly supportive @theviewabc audience – you sure know how to make a woman feel missed. My father would have loved this,” remarked McCain.

The View co-host recently shared a touching photo of her visit to the grave of her dad on Instagram, inspiring others with her openness on dealing with the death of a close family member.

McCain shared a photo from her dad’s gravesite at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland, as reported by Entertainment Tonight.

Fans took to the social media site in support of her grief. One fan remarked, “You are so strong, my 90 yr old dad is reading For Whom the Bell Tolls as a tribute to your father.”

For Whom The Bell Tolls is a book by Ernest Hemmingway. McCain quoted a passage from the book during her dramatic eulogy to her father at his memorial service, which was attended by Washington elite as well as former United States Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.

CNN reported that McCain opened her eulogy with the following passage, “The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for, and I hate very much to leave it.” When Ernest Hemingway’s Robert Jordan at the close of For Whom the Bell Tolls lies wounded, waiting for his last fight, these are among his final thoughts.”

“My father had every reason to think the world was an awful place. My father had every reason to think the world was not worth fighting for. My father had every reason to think the world was worth leaving. He did not think any of those things. Like the hero of his favorite book, John McCain took the opposite view,” said McCain.

The View airs weekdays on ABC.