Meghan McCain says she wondered 'whether the last days of American greatness were finally upon us' while sick with COVID


Meghan McCain is opening up about her COVID-19 battle, describing the "sad and pessimistic" thoughts she had after getting far sicker than she expected.
In a column for the Daily Mail on Wednesday, the former co-host of The View said she and her husband both tested positive for COVID-19 several weeks ago. But McCain writes that her case "wasn't mild" and was "much rougher than I anticipated," given that both she and her husband are vaccinated. Their 15-month-old daughter didn't get sick, she said.
"My husband and I got very sick — more sick than the 'mild Omicron' headlines and Twitter streams suggested," McCain wrote. "I am still now, a few weeks out from testing positive, waking up feeling the aftereffects of a cold in my throat, getting fatigued easily, and unable to taste food or smell anything normally. I have been lighting candles all over the house waiting for this to change."'
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
McCain writes that she is "still fearful of the unknown long-term side effects that I may experience," and she reflects on experiencing the "most sad and pessimistic moments that I have ever felt" while sick with COVID-19. She also criticizes the Biden administration for its response to the pandemic and the fact that at-home COVID-19 tests were not more readily available during the Omicron surge.
"Why is it so hard to get an at-home Covid test?" McCain writes. "In isolation, I started ruminating as to whether the last days of American greatness were finally upon us, like so many pundits have been circulating over the past few years. For a pandemic that is in its third year, shouldn't we have more readily available treatment and testing?"
McCain goes on to argue that the president's "feckless, moronic, isolated Titanic of an administration gets the blame" for this, calling for an "intense and immediate shift away from whatever depression this administration is continuing to let the country experience."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Music reviews: Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs, and Molly Tuttle
Feature "Star Line," "Interior Live Oak," and "So Long Little Miss Sunshine"
-
Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!
Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town
-
Critics' choice: Three chefs fulfilling their ambitions
Feature Kwame Onwuachi's grand second act, Travis Lett makes a comeback, and Jeff Watson's new Korean restaurant
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official says
Speed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judges
Speed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policing
Speed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Speed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportation
Speed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda
-
Trump arms National Guard in DC, threatens other cities
speed read His next targets are Chicago, New York and Baltimore
-
Judge: Trump's US attorney in NJ serving unlawfully
Speed Read The appointment of Trump's former personal defense lawyer, Alina Habba, as acting US attorney in New Jersey was ruled 'unlawful'
-
Third judge rejects DOJ's Epstein records request
Speed Read Judge Richard Berman was the third and final federal judge to reject DOJ petitions to unseal Epstein-related grand jury material