There was a rumor that Jon Favreau had been running interference for her, but evidently he didn't have enough pull to keep the scolds off her.
Amusingly in a dark way, a lot of people conflate McCarthy's arguments with those of the House Un-American Activities Committee. The latter was staffed with Democrats and was a complete shitshow, right up there with the current sham-peachment proceedings. The worst thing about McCarthy was his bombastic nature, but people forget his complaint: that certain people were being given security clearances and employment in the State Department and they should not be there. So, WERE there Communists in the State Department? Well, I admit I could be wrong, but Hiss, the Rosenbergs, Harry Dexter White -- if those people weren't taking Russian rubles I'd like to know why.
He didn't say they couldn't work elsewhere, though (public or private sector). He didn't call for them to be physically assaulted. He even resisted naming people from his list because he admitted he could be wrong and that he didn't want to smear innocents with a faulty accusation.
But welcome to 2021, where someone pointing out the gross dehumanization of a political position is grounds for expelling them from modern society.