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McCains use of the infanticide falsehood and the allegation that Democrats are radical about abortion was instantaneously recycled by right-wing media. So-called straight news program Fox News @ Night later ran with the right-wing talking point when guest Tony Perkins, president of the anti-abortion and anti-LGBT group Family Research Council, commented on McCain's question. Perkins asserted that Democrats support abortion up to the day of birth and referred to the Democratic Party as radical. Host Shannon Bream, herself a purveyor of anti-abortion misinformation, didnt push back, calling it a conversation about third-trimester abortions or infanticide. Others in theright-wing media ecosystemfollowed suit, manufacturing outrage over Buttigieg's response.

This reiteration found its way out of the right-wing media nebula and was inexplicably repeated on CNN's Cuomo Prime Time. CNN contributor Scott Jennings repeated false claims of Democratic extremism about abortion, alleging that Buttigieg spoke about abortion on demand during The View segment. Host Chris Cuomo himself refuted that claim, bizarrely stating he saw the clip to prepare for this segment.

Buttigieg wasnt the first Democratic presidential candidate to face anti-abortion misinformation from McCain. During a May 2019 broadcast, after 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) commented on a restrictive abortion ban passed in Alabama, McCain asked Klobuchar if she supported late-term abortion up until birth. McCain continued to double down on her rhetoric even as her co-hosts challenged her about about how this myth was based on a lie and had been debunked.

McCains questions to Buttigieg and Klobuchar were not an outlier; she manufactured the same allegations of extremism during a June 2019 segment. McCain declared that most of the Democratic candidates are "too far to the left, particularly on abortion, to garner her support. During the segment, McCain also repeated a right-wing media talking point about later abortions, describing them as late-term abortions. Co-host Whoopi Goldberg accurately refuted McCain's claim, saying, There is no such thing. In reality, late-term abortion is a medically inaccurate phraseemployed by right-wing media to deliberately sensationalize and stigmatize abortions later in pregnancy, many of which are medically necessary.

During a February 2019 airing, McCain once again used The View as a platform to amplify the right-wing media myth that Democrats support infanticide. McCain spoke about Democrats refusing to vote for the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act -- legislation designed to solve a fictitious problem formulated by abortion opponents. In addition, during a September 6 episode, McCain inaccurately conflated Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) remarks on climate change as an endorsement of eugenic population control. Despite McCains continued assertions, her claims have no foundation in the reality of abortion care, let alone as part of the Democratic Party platform.

Given The Views cultural relevancy and influence as an important political program, especially during the2020 election, it is imperative for the show to discuss abortion accurately and not give a platform to the repetition of sensationalized right-wing rhetoric and claims of Democratic extremism about abortion.

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The View echoes right-wing media by promoting the myth that Democrats are extreme about abortion - Media Matters for America