Everything We Know About Tulsi Gabbard's Friendship With Meghan McCain

Thanks to Meghan McCain's rather candid nature and strong political opinions, the former "View" co-host has made a lot of enemies over the course of her controversial career. From McCain's bad blood with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, to her feud with Bravo's Ariana Madix, the outspoken TV personality doesn't mind juggling a few rivalries if it means standing up for her principles. However, she's also made a handful of powerful close friends in the political sphere as well, one of whom is Donald Trump's new Director of Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard.

According to McCain, their friendship started due to something that neither McCain nor Gabbard even recognized at the time. "We became friends through a mutual friend who said, 'You guys seem like you're a lot alike, and you have similar things in common,'" the duo recalled in a joint interview with Independent Women's Voice. However, McCain doubted that she was a good match for Gabbard and vice-versa. As it turned out, their mutual friend knew them better than they knew themselves. All it took was one lunch to form a bond that's lasted years. 

In fact, McCain was so taken by Gabbard that she even became the godmother of her children. "We met, and really bonded over being outspoken women, women of faith, women who love America, women who love the military," McCain gushed. Given their lengthy friendship, it should come as little surprise that McCain has been loudly supporting Gabbard's political ascension all over social media. She paid a quick tribute to her pal's new position in the Trump administration on X, formerly known as Twitter, writing, "One last congratulations for our new Director or National Intelligence."

Meghan McCain has been as fearless about supporting Tulsi Gabbard as she has been in going after her many political adversaries. The TV personality displayed her loyalty when Gabbard visited "The View" in 2019, long before McCain decided to leave the hit talk show. Because of her co-hosts' political sensibilities, McCain sensed that Gabbard was walking into an ambush, and took the necessary steps to protect her pal. "They were so scared of her, and Tulsi and I were just starting to become friends, and I remember being, like, 'I'm really gonna have to do defense for this woman because they're gonna be so mean to her.' You can look it up, it was like vultures,'" McCain recalled during a 2024 Stand with Women event in Philadelphia (via YouTube).

However, they weren't always on the same team. During another episode of "The View," McCain took Gabbard to task over comments she'd made about Syria. Gabbard was running for president at the time, as a Democrat, and she shared some controversial opinions about then-Syrian president Bashar al-Assad with which McCain was visibly uncomfortable. "You know how I feel about your stance on foreign policy, and when I hear the name Tulsi Gabbard, I think of Assad apologist, I think of someone who comes back to the United States and is spouting propaganda from Syria," she argued. 

McCain elaborated, "You have said that the Syrian president Assad is not the enemy of the United States [...] It's hard for me to understand where you come from a humanitarian standpoint if you were to become president," (via X). The talk show host's comments led to a tense but otherwise civil debate between herself and Gabbard, but fortunately it wasn't enough to permanently alter their friendship.