If you thought Meghan McCain would have something to say about the college admissions scandal, you were correct — and it was pretty good, until it went bad.

And she’s not making it any better.

The notion of a “legacy” admission tripped her up, and you can bet that social media was quick to point out that this shouldn’t be a surprise.

McCain, the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain of Arizona and a co-host of “The View,” defended Arizona State University on Wednesday’s show after Mossimo Giannulli was quoted in court documents as saying he wanted to get his daughter “into a school other than ASU!”

Giannuli is a fashion designer and the husband of Lori Loughlin (Aunt Becky on “Full House”). Giannulli and Loughlin were two of the people caught up in Operation Varsity Blues, which involves accusations of wealthy people paying bribes to get their children admitted to elite colleges. It’s a scandal both ugly and absurd, which made it perfect fodder for “The View.”

Co-host Joy Behar, a frequent McCain sparring partner, introduced the segment, and the panel chatted about it for a few minutes.

McCain — who went to Columbia University — defended ASU, as well as herself, a little bit.

“For me, specifically — not everything is about my family, I read my tweets, I know what you guys are saying — but Aunt Becky’s husband talked crap about ASU, OK?” she said. “And Arizona State University is where the McCain Institute for International Leadership is partnered ... that I have the luxury to be a part of that institute, and it was chosen because ASU is a premier educational system, as well.

“And maybe it isn’t as good from some people, Hollywood elite’s perspective, as Harvard and Yale, but let me tell you something. ASU has a president, Michael Crow, who is an incredible president and has been doing incredible things for a long time.”

She went on to quote ASU’s statement about the matter, before ending with, “I’m just saying, finally, I’m very proud to have my family’s name attached to ASU. It’s an incredible, incredible, incredible college, and Aunt Becky’s husband, whoever the hell you are, I had no idea who you are till yesterday, sorry, your kid probably wouldn’t have been good enough to have gotten into ASU.”

So far, so good.

But then Behar brought up legacy admissions — the practice in which, if your parents went to a school, your chances of getting in improve greatly. (If they donate millions, so much the better.) Behar noted its roots in racism — to keep out minorities.

McCain, oddly, brought up the generations of her family that attended the Naval Academy.

“I don’t think there’s anything to be ashamed of, the fact that my family’s legacy is at the Naval Academy,” she said. “My father’s buried there.”

“I’m not talking about your family,” Behar said. “I’m talking about the policy of where legacy admissions came from.”

There’s a difference between legacy, obviously, and a legacy admission. Although perhaps not so obvious to McCain, who Wednesday afternoon tweeted, “My father is buried at the naval academy, it is a part of who we are as a family. I am extremely proud of my family ‘legacy’ in the military and naval academy. No hollywood rich kid changes the importance I think there is in military service and families. Hope this brings clarity.”

The problem is, it doesn’t.

She still seems not to recognize the difference in her family’s legacy of service and a legacy admission — unless she’s somehow defending her father and her brother’s admission into the Naval Academy, and that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Her tweet, which has been deleted, was clearly a response to social media’s assertion that it’s no wonder a child of privilege — which, through no doing of her own, McCain clearly is — wouldn’t know the difference. Stories also popped up all over the place. Here are a couple of headlines:

“The View’s Legacy Admission Has Thoughts on Legacy Admission” — Jezebel.

“Nepotism Good, Says John McCain’s Daughter” — Splinter.

Brutal. Yet not completely undeserving.

Again, it doesn’t seem as if McCain is defending legacy admissions. It sounds as if she doesn’t know what they are.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk.

Subscribe to azcentral.com today. What are you waiting for?