Meghan McCain Reacts to Being Called 'Deranged' Over 'NYT' Swastika Debate

Meghan McCain has hit back at Eric Swalwell, after the Democratic California Representative called her "deranged" in response to her criticism of a New York Times crossword puzzle that she said resembled a swastika.

Former The View co-host McCain was one of several Twitter users who shared screenshots of Sunday's crossword, and also joined a host of detractors in pointing out that the puzzle was published on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

Captioning the image in question, McCain wrote on Monday: "On the first night of Hanukkah the anti-Israel New York Times issues a crossword puzzle that looks like a swastika. Can't make this s*** up. We see you @nytimes—we see you."

A number of McCain's followers agreed with her, while several other Twitter users pushed back on the conservative columnist's take.

On Monday night Swalwell commented her post: "You're deranged."

Responding, McCain wrote in a tweet: "I never slept with a Chinese spy—so I'd really take a seat throwing around the moral judgments homeboy."

McCain appeared to be referring to Christine Fang, a suspected Chinese intelligence operative who associated with the congressman in 2014 and 2015.

While Swalwell's critics have accused him of being compromised by Fang and the Chinese government, Swalwell has said that he cut off ties with when the FBI got in touch with him in 2015.

Continuing to hit back at Swalwell, McCain wrote: "A member of Congress spending his time 'dunking' me on twitter in the middle of the night while our country faces the end of title 42 border crisis that's going to annihilate our infrastructure is an example why everything is going to s***. Focus on your work & district, clown."

When a Twitter user replied that Swalwell's tweet was sent at 10 p.m. and advised McCain to "relax," the congressman clarified that it was "7pm in California."

Hitting back at Stalwell's response, McCain tweeted: "GET A LIFE CONGRESSMAN! Hope all your constituents see how much time you spending tweeting at me—great use of taxpayer dollars."

McCain was among a large number of prominent Twitter users who criticized the Times for the design of its Sunday crossword, with the debate continuing online.

Amid the speculation, Jordan Cohen, executive director of communications at the NYT, told Newsweek on Monday that the only intentional aspect of the crossword's appearance was its symmetry.

"This is a common crossword design: many open grids in crosswords have a similar spiral pattern because of the rules around rotational symmetry and black squares," Cohen said in a statement.

The NYT's Caitlin Lovinger wrote about the crossword in her column on Sunday, saying: "I love the geometry in this puzzle—so many stair steps!—and feel that it contributes to a certain evenness in the solve.

"Most of the entries that first caught my eye were of medium length—five or six letters long, bulky enough to give me lots of letters to use in chipping away at each corner—and the whole grid came together all at once," she said.

Ryan McCarty, the puzzle's constructor, said in the Times: "This grid features one of my favorite open middles that I've made as it pulls from a variety of subject areas. I had originally tried to make it work in a 15x15 grid but then decided to expand the grid out to a Sunday-size puzzle with a fun whirlpool shape."

As discussion around the crossword continues on social media, Twitter users pointed out that the verified New York Times Games account had posted a tweet in October 2017 that insisted there was nothing untoward in another of its puzzles.

"Yes, hi. It's NOT a swastika," read the tweet. "Honest to God. No one sits down to make a crossword puzzle and says, 'Hey! You know what would look cool?'"

In the ensuing conversation about the resurfaced tweet, a number of Twitter users posted links to a Tomatohater blog post from 2014, in which Drew Engelson questioned whether another crossword puzzle from the NYT was in the shape of a swastika.

At the time, Engelson shared a response attributed to the Times that insisted the puzzle's constructor "meant no harm in the pattern of squares for today's Mini. As I'm sure you probably know, there are only so many possible arrangements for squares in a 5x5 puzzle. I had to look really hard at it in order to see what you refer to as a swastika, and personally, I mainly see a lot of white space."