In the middle of a softball interview on The View Thursday, President Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, was unexpectedly grilled by co-host Meghan McCain, over allegations she makes in her salacious tell-all book. While the liberal hosts took the Democrat donor and Trump critic’s wild claims at face value, McCain called her out, asking if she was just doing this to “get a paycheck.”

But first Trump got lavish praise from the liberal hosts. Joy Behar wanted her to know how much she appreciated Trump writing the tell-all: “Mary, thank you for doing the show. Thank you for doing the book. I just want to say thank you very much for us,” she gushed. Later, Behar called the president’s niece, “a very brave woman.” Sunny Hostin praised the anti-Trump book as “fantastic.” Meanwhile, Whoopi hailed it as “hard to read, but probably very necessary.” 

When it was her turn to ask a question, McCain cast doubt on the truthfulness of the book, saying she didn’t find these types of books very “legitimate:” “[A]t the end of the day you get a really good paycheck out of it but I don’t think it’s that legitimate. What do you say to people like me who think this is just a great way for you to get a paycheck right now?” she asked.

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Mary Trump insisted she had “deep experience” with the family because she was the president’s niece. But McCain kept her feet to the fire, pointing out how Trump had revealed right before this that she wasn’t even close to Trump’s children, (her cousins):

But you’re not close you have in with the family where you say you have any relationship with Ivanka. I think the last thing I understand is you did end up going to her wedding, but you thought you were only invited as a courtesy. So, again, I just know in my family, and my family is clearly nothing like the Trumps, but the people who are close, I certainly have extended family who I don’t interact with, or certainly only interact with at funerals and things like that. So I don’t think people like that would know the inner workings of my immediate family dynamic in the way that you present it. 

Trump insisted she wasn’t “extended family,” and that she’s “taking a risk” to publish this book now, where she could’ve made more money on the book ten years ago if that had been her intent. Like all liberals who come out with these type of books, she presented herself as a patriotic whistleblower:

“We’ve all seen how whistle-blowers fare in this administration. So I would much have preferred not to do this, but I felt it was extremely important that the American people have all of the information they need in order to make an informed decision,” she huffed.

McCain pressed again, pointing out how Trump had gone to her aunt’s birthday party in the White House in 2017. She reiterated how it seemed strange that she wouldn’t have any relationship with her cousins, but claim to know the Trump family’s inner workings and the president’s psyche:

“You have a complicated relationship with him in this family that I don’t understand, and I understand now you’re saying it’s really important now and that’s all well and good, but I do think if you were close to that family, you would probably know your cousins Don Junior and Ivanka on a level that you clearly don’t,” she pointed out.

But that was the only criticism their guest received from the hosts. While Sunny Hostin did ask if she could name specific people whom the president had allegedly used racial slurs against, (spoiler: she couldn’t), Hostin revealed afterwards she had already made up her mind that Trump used racial slurs against blacks even before asking the question:

I read that too that he [Donald Trump’s father] was a white nationalist and, you know, that’s why I asked Mary Trump about whether or not she heard Trump use derogatory language towards black people, anti-Semitic language, and I wasn’t able to follow up about the anti-Semitic language, but she said she did hear Donald Trump use the “N” word and that they weren’t around people of color…

I’m not surprised. Not after reading the book and not after learning about his father. So this notion that he loves African Americans is just false, it’s just not true.

The View is brought to you by Olay and Carvana, you can tell them how you feel here.

Read the transcript below:

The View

7/23/20

MEGHAN MCCAIN: Miss Trump, it’s Meghan. Look. I think I 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 because I — they’re told from the one side, and often the subjects are villainized to the point that I don’t actually end up believing the stuff written. There have been books about my family which are complete and total garbage, told from a skewed perspective, and at the end of the day you get a really good paycheck out of it but I don’t think it’s that legitimate. What do you say to people like me who think this is just a great way for you to get a paycheck right now? 

MARY TRUMP: Well, you’re entirely entitled to your opinion. I think 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. 

MCCAIN: But you’re not close you have in with the family where you say you have any relationship with Ivanka. I think the last thing I understand is you did end up going to her wedding, but you thought you were only invited as a courtesy. So, again, I just know in my family, and my family is clearly nothing like the Trumps, but the people who are close, I certainly have extended family who I don’t interact with, or certainly only interact with at funerals and things like that. So I don’t think people like that would know the inner workings of my immediate family dynamic in the way that you present it. 

TRUMP: Well, I would love to answer your question. Um, I am not extended family. Donald is my dad’s younger brother, and my cousins, Donald’s children, are completely irrelevant to the story I was telling which is in my view, the foundational narrative about my family and how Donald became the person he is. If I had wanted some measure of revenge, if I had wanted to cash in as you say, I would have done this ten years ago when Donald was still a very public figure and it wouldn’t have — I would not have been taking the risk that I’m taking. We’ve all seen how whistle-blowers fare in this administration. So I would much have preferred not to do this, but I felt it was extremely important that the American people have all of the information they need in order to make an informed decision. 

MCCAIN: But you weren’t concerned enough to not go to the White House and have dinner with him. I think this is the part I don’t understand. Your brother says it’s bad, and you went to the White House and had dinner with him on the taxpayer dime. You have a complicated relationship with him in this family that I don’t understand, and I understand now you’re saying it’s really important now and that’s all well and good, but I do think if you were close to that family, you would probably know your cousins Don Junior and Ivanka on a level that you clearly don’t. 

TRUMP: I’m not entirely sure where you are so focused on my cousins who again are so much younger than I am. So I guess what I would say — first of all, I did not go to the White House on the taxpayer dime. That’s a quite absurd thing to say, but families are extremely complicated. You know, the administration was at that point less than four months old. I was going there for my aunt’s birthday, you know, not to take advantage of Donald’s position, and I think to focus on these things is to take away from the actually important things I write about in the book.