“Everything about all of this is why everyone hates nepo babies so much,” McCain, the daughter of the late Senator John McCain, said of Violet’s speech, in which Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s daughter spoke at the UN about COVID.
Meghan McCain is doubling down after she criticized Violet Affleck for being a nepo baby giving a speech at the UN, despite being a nepo baby herself. Violet is the daughter of Jennifer Garner and her ex-husband Ben Affleck.
The conservative commentator shared — and quickly deleted — a post on X, formerly Twitter, in which she slammed Affleck after she addressed the United Nations in a passionate speech on Tuesday about the “threat” of long COVID in children, while stressing the importance of clean air and masking.
McCain — who is, of course, the daughter of the late Senator John McCain and a self-described “nepo baby” — wrote, per EW, “Every single thing about all of this is why people hate nepo babies so much. She has no business speaking at the UN, and what she is speaking about is patently absurd.”
She reportedly removed the post only minutes later.
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Despite deleting her initial comments, McCain shared similar thoughts on Thursday, and doubled down on her criticism.
“Everything about all of this is why everyone hates nepo babies so much,” she wrote on X alongside a clip of Affleck’s speech.
The View alum went on to further explain her stance in a follow-up post.
“Some journalist are clutching their pearls mad I called Violet Affleck a nepo baby so I’m giving you all a response here instead of answering your emails: First, it takes one to know one. I’m clearly a nepo baby, check my twitter bio. Say whatever you want about me, my parents would have NEVER been okay with me speaking in front of the United Nations at 19 about a health issue I had no background, training or experience in.”
“Having famous parents is a double edged sword and if you’re going to put yourself out there, you gotta take the heat (as I have always done),” she continued, before concluding, “Finally – anyone advocating that I mask my kids all day in 2025 I think is insane, and that is my right. Have a nice day.”
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In her speech, Affleck — who is a freshman at Yale — addressed the impact COVID infections have had on children, and detailed the “threat of long COVID.”
After criticizing adults for “the relentless beat of back to normal, ignoring, downplaying, and concealing both the prevalence of airborne transmission and the threat of long COVID,” the 19-year-old said “young people lacked both real choice in the matter and information about what was being chosen for us.”
“Here’s what we know about SARS-CoV-2,” Affleck went on. “It is airborne, floating and lingering in the air, one infection can result in disabling damage to almost every cell in the body, from the brain and heart to the nerves and blood vessels. Every subsequent infection increases the risk of long COVID and places people who already have it in greater danger.”
The teen cited Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, who said that “after only five years, long COVID has surpassed asthma as the most common chronic illness in children five years and under.”
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Affleck — who was wearing an N95 mask during her speech — said she’s “terrified” for children “who will not know a world without debilitating pain and exhaustion, who cannot trust their bodies to play, explore, and imagine, and who will not know the potential of their own minds unfettered by cognitive damage from a COVID-19 infection.”
“I am furious on their behalf,” she continued. “It is a neglect of the highest order to look children in the eyes and say, ‘We knew how to protect you and we didn’t do it.”
“We have access to a technology to prevent airborne disease,” she added, pointing to her mask, “something that millions of our ancestors and millions of people around the world today would kill for, and we refuse to use it. And I shudder to think of where we will be in another five years of unmitigated infection and reinfection.”
Affleck went on to note how “many” in the room “fought the long and hard battle against indoor smoking,” before expressing her “hope for this event and my belief in this community pressed on the belief that we can and we must do that again.”
“We can recognize filtered air as a human right, as intuitively as we do filtered water,” she added. “We can create clean air infrastructure that is so ubiquitous, and so obviously necessary, so that tomorrow’s children don’t even know why we need it.”
