Meghan McCain and Mary Trump Throw Down on ‘The View’: “You Clearly Don’t” Know Don Jr. and Ivanka

Meghan McCain has made her feelings about Mary Trump‘s new book clear. Thursday morning on The View, the conservative co-host sparred with President Trump’s niece about her tell-all memoir, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, which details the president’s “malignantly dysfunctional” upbringing. McCain accused Mary Trump of cashing in on her famous family, and she blasted the author for her misleading depiction of her extended family. “If you were probably close to that family, you would probably know your cousins Don Jr. and Ivanka on a level that you clearly don’t,” ripped McCain.

The View only spent about 25 minutes with Mary Trump, but McCain wasted no time before laying into this morning’s guest. “Look, I think I’ve made it clear to your publishers, I don’t like books like this. I don’t like family tell-all books, especially when it comes to families with fame and power,” said the conservative firebrand. “They’re told from the one side, and often the subjects are villainized the point that I don’t actually end up believing the stuff written.”

McCain said that she’s read memoirs about her own family “that are complete and total garbage,” and she suspects Mary Trump’s book is the same. “At the end of the day, you get a really good paycheck out of it, but I don’t think it’s that legitimate,” she said. “What do you say to people like me who think this is just a great way for you to get a paycheck right now?”

“Well, you’re entirely entitled to your opinion,” replied Trump. “If you read the book, you see that I bring to the story my very deep experience within the family. I’m not some stranger writing it. I’m his niece.”

The View co-host pushed back, noting that just a few minutes earlier, Trump said that because she’s much older than her cousins Don Jr. and Ivanka Trump, she doesn’t know them very well. “I certainly have extended family I’m not close with, but they don’t know the inner workings of my immediate family,” said McCain.

Trump reiterated that she’s “not extended family,” and attempted to clarify that her book is about the president’s early years, not his children. “If I had wanted some measure of revenge, if I had wanted to cash in, I would have done this 10 years ago,” she said. “I would have preferred not to do this, but I think it’s extremely important that the American people have all the information they need.”

And with that, things went completely off the rails. “You went to the White House and had dinner with him while he was president on the taxpayer dime,” said McCain. “You have a relationship with him and this family that I don’t understand.”

“I’m not entirely sure why you’re so focused on my cousins,” fired back Trump. “First of all, I didn’t go to the White House on the taxpayer dime. That’s quite an absurd thing to say … To focus on these things is to take away from the actually important things I write about in the book.”

The View stuck with Mary Trump for two more segments, but McCain remained suspiciously silent. After that screed, it’s probably for the best.

Watch Meghan McCain and Mary Trump go at it in the clip above.

where to stream The View