The View co-host Meghan McCain blasted two founders of the Lincoln Project in a series of tweets Friday evening, saying John Weaver and Steve Schmidt were “despised” by her late father, Sen. John McCain.
“I’ve been very hesitant to comment but since my deceased father keeps getting invoked I will say this: John Weaver and Steve Schmidt were so despised by my Dad he made it a point to ban them from his funeral. Since 2008, no McCain would have spit on them if they were on fire,” McCain began a Twitter thread on Friday evening.
Her comments come as several staff members for the GOP anti-Trump political action committee have stepped down this week over reports the group did not respond swiftly to allegations of sexual misconduct on part of co-founder Weaver. He has since left the group.
1. I’ve been very hesitant to comment but since my deceased father keeps getting invoked I will say this:
John Weaver and Steve Schmidt were so despised by my Dad he made it a point to ban them from his funeral. Since 2008, no McCain would have spit on them if they were on fire.
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) February 13, 2021
Schmidt served as a strategist for John McCain in 2008 and on former President George W. Bush’s campaign in 2004. Prior to starting the Lincoln Project, Weaver served as a decadelong adviser for the McCain during his time as a senator for Arizona. Schmidt was also an aide to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
On Friday, Schmidt resigned from his position on the organization’s board, announcing his seat would be filled by a female to mark the “first step to reform and professionalize the Lincoln Project.”
Weaver has faced more than 20 allegations of sexual harassment against young men, including one who was 14 years old at the time, the New York Times reported.
Meghan McCain added in a second post, “My heart goes out to the victims of John Weaver, it’s abhorrent and evil – everyone who knew that this was going on deserves to be held accountable,” McCain wrote. “I hope that anyone who covered up for this never works in politics ever again.”
She continued, “What disgusts me so much is that anyone who would engage in such awful and potentially illegal behavior would use their media associations with my father to gain opportunities. My dad was betrayed by you, hated you for it, and we all know it.”
Schmidt has said in a statement he became aware of allegations against Weaver in January, adding that he experienced sexual abuse when he was a child.
“I wish John Weaver was not a cofounder of the Lincoln Project, but as hard as I wish for that to be, I can’t change that he was,” Schmidt said. “I am enormously proud of the Lincoln Project and what we have accomplished to date.”
As a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, Schmidt announced in December he would register as a Democrat after two years of being a registered independent.
The Lincoln Project previously lauded McCain in September following her endorsement of President Biden.
Cindy McCain is a #LincolnVoter. https://t.co/eQCpcRYl4X
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) September 22, 2020
