Meghan McCain tells John Bolton his book title was 'insulting' to Hamilton fans

There are nearly 600 pages in John Bolton's White House tell-all, but Meghan McCain decided to ask him about the title.

The former national security adviser appeared on The View on Wednesday to discuss his new memoir The Room Where it Happened, which makes dozens of allegations of wrongdoing and incompetence by and under President. But at least for a moment, McCain, a co-host on the show, dropped all those accusations to ask Bolton if he realized how "insulting" it was to fans of the hit musical Hamilton that he had used one of its songs for his book title.

McCain's argument stemmed from a tweet from Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda sent last week, where he accuses Bolton of "borrow[ing] your song title to write a cash-in book when they could have testified before Congress." McCain then claimed the song is about "someone being not principled," and asked "do you understand why it’s insulting to those of us who are fans of Hamilton to co-opt art from Lin-Manuel Miranda for your own political purposes?"

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Bolton maintained that "'in the room' is a phrase used in Washington a thousand times a day." And when McCain asked her question again, Bolton affirmed that he is "a fan of Hamilton" and spelled out his interpretation of the historical event behind the song.

But as Miranda confirmed later with a gif, he wasn't convinced. Kathryn Krawczyk