Social media users are mocking Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late US Senator John McCain, for a tweet talking about the right way to raise a “nepo baby.”
“Sometimes the absolute best thing a famous parent can do for their nepo baby child is simply tell them no,” Ms McCain, a podcast and former host of The View, wrote on X on Tuesday, using a slang term that’s short for “nepotism baby.”
It was unclear if she was refering to any particular nepo child, and the comments left some online were puzzled, given that Ms McCain’s rise in the political media world was undoubtedly aided by her famous family heritage.
“Omg you are a nepo baby!” political strategist Rachel Bitecofer wrote in response.
“I guess your parents did you wrong!” added Monika Nemeth, a former local official in Washington, DC.
The Independent has contacted Ms McCain for comment.
Ms McCain, who, at least according to her social media bios, self-identifies as a “nepo baby,” has frequently weighed into the perennial “nepo baby” discourse online.
Last year, she publically threatened to bring legal action against members of The View, after co-host Ana Navarro accused Ms McCain of influence-peddling off her famous name, an accusation she also leveled at Joe Biden’s son Hunter.
“I have never been accused of a crime in my life and am a patriotic American - I would never and have never ‘influenced peddled’ in my life, let alone with foreign adversaries,” Ms McCain wrote on X at the time. “Not all politicians children are the same - and I am no Hunter Biden.”
Around that time, Ms McCain claimed on her podcast that she hadn’t struggled with the same issues as other children of famous political figures.
“But I am the exception,” she said. “A lot of nepo babies, particularly in politics, they struggle, they have addiction issues, there’s a lot of darkness. I am very proud of the fact that I never went down that road.”
In 2021, Ms McCain also pushed back against those who see her as lazy due to her connection to the senator.
"Look, I can only speak for myself, but every single door I’ve ever walked in my entire life, people automatically assume that you’re going to be a lazy, spoiled brat that won’t contribute to anything because you have famous parents," she said on The View.
"It’s something I have dealt with my entire life. I no longer care," she continued. "I think my work ethics speaks for itself, but I think people think when you have a famous family or a famous parent, everything is just given to you and things are really easy."
