What started as a discussion about the government shutdown turned into McCain questioning Navarro about whether or not she’s really a Republican.
Navarro argued that DACA is attached to the spending bill as a “must pass” “vehicle” to get things done. That’s when cohost Joy Behar chimed in about military pay and her dissatisfaction with Sen. Mitch McConnell’s denial of a last-minute bill that would have allowed the military to continue receiving paychecks during the shutdown. Navarro said that she agreed that the government should not use politics to interfere with the military’s pay.
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McCain took offense to the insinuation that Republicans have anything but the utmost respect for the military. “To sit here and say that this government shutdown has anything to do with my or the Republican party’s love for the troops is just intellectually dishonest,” she said.
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The conversation quickly escalated until the two were talking over each other. That’s when Whoopi Goldberg had to intervene and settle things down. After the brief reset, McCain started back in on Navarro, saying it’s hard for her to understand why Navarro still considers herself a Republican.
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Navarro responded with a passionate explanation of why the Dream Act is so personal to her.
“Because I’m a Hispanic immigrant Latina. Because I was brought to this country when I was 8 years old. Because my parents fled communism and it was not my decision to come here. I came here through no decision of my own. I came here through no fault of my own. Had my parents not had visas, had my parents not had the resources to hire lawyers, I would be a Dream Act kid too. That’s why this is personal.”
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