Meghan McCain lashed out Wednesday at President Donald Trump, slamming his latest attacks on her late father, the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as a “bizarre new low.”
“I think if I had told my dad, ‘Seven months after you’re dead you’re going to be dominating the news and all over Twitter’ – He would think it’s hilarious that our president was so jealous of him that he was dominating the news cycle in death as well,” McCain, a co-host of ABC’s “The View,” said on the talk show.
“This is a new bizarre low. I will say attacking someone who isn’t here is a bizarre low,” she added. “My dad’s not here, but I’m sure as hell here.”
.@MeghanMcCain calls Pres. Trump’s latest criticisms of her late father Sen. John McCain “a new bizarre low”: “Do not feel bad for me and my family. We are blessed … Feel bad for people out there who are being bullied that don’t have support.” https://t.co/yeR0JwqfWl pic.twitter.com/Pw2Z7AaK5E
— The View (@TheView) March 20, 2019
Trump criticized the former Arizona lawmaker during a Tuesday appearance at the White House alongside Brazil’s new president, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro, telling reporters in the Oval Office he was “never a fan of John McCain, and I never will be.”
Trump said he remains “very unhappy” with McCain over the late senator’s famous late-night thumbs down vote against legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Trump called McCain’s pivotal “no” vote against a so-called “skinny” repeal measure of the Affordable Care Act “disgraceful” and claimed McCaine sank efforts by Republicans to repeal the healthcare law among “other things” that have left him angered.
In addition to his 2017 healthcare vote, the president took aim at McCain, who passed away in August after a months-long battle with brain cancer, for his reported role in passing a salacious dossier full of damning allegations about Trump’s ties to Russia to the FBI. BuzzFeed News published the 35-page dossier in full in January of 2017, with the disclaimer that the dossier was “not just unconfirmed: It includes some clear errors.” Many of the claims in the document have been confirmed, but the most explosive claims remain unverified.
Trump’s escalated attacks against McCain suggest the president cannot resist reviving old battles, many of which he renewed in recent days in a series of tweets that slammed McCain, former Vice President Joe Biden, Democrats, special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the media and more. But as Trump continues to assail the late senator, a number of Republican lawmakers criticized Trump for the remarks.
“I just want to lay it on the line that the country deserves better, the McCain family deserves better,” Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia told The Bulwark, a conservative news site, in an interview published Wednesday. “I don’t care if he’s president of United States, owns all the real estate in New York or is building the greatest immigration system in the world.”
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of the country and those who fought and risked their lives for all of us,” Isakson added.
Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah is the only other Republican lawmaker who has publicly criticized Trump by name for his attacks. While he did not serve with McCain in the Senate, he ran against him in the 2008 GOP presidential primary.
I can’t understand why the President would, once again, disparage a man as exemplary as my friend John McCain: heroic, courageous, patriotic, honorable, self-effacing, self-sacrificing, empathetic, and driven by duty to family, country, and God.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) March 19, 2019
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky called McCain a “genuine American hero” in a Wednesday tweet, although he did not call out Trump by name or mention his comments.
Today and every day I miss my good friend John McCain. It was a blessing to serve alongside a rare patriot and genuine American hero in the Senate. His memory continues to remind me every day that our nation is sustained by the sacrifices of heroes.
— U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (@SenMcConnell) March 20, 2019
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who was one of McCain’s closest friends in the upper chamber, also praised the late senator in a tweet without mentioning the president.
Nothing about his service will ever be changed or diminished. (2/2)
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 17, 2019
Amid the controversy, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Wednesday that he intends to introduce legislation to rename one of the Senate office buildings after the late Arizona senator.
I look forward to soon re-introducing my legislation re-naming the Senate Russell Building after American hero, Senator John McCain.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 20, 2019
Although Trump recently reignited his years-long offensive against the late Arizona Republican, Meghan McCain made it clear on “The View” that she is not letting the president’s insults bring her down.
No one will ever love you the way they loved my father…. I wish I had been given more Saturday’s with him. Maybe spend yours with your family instead of on twitter obsessing over mine? https://t.co/q7ezwmHiQ4
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) March 16, 2019
“Do not feel bad for me and my family,” McCain said on “The View” Wednesday. “We are blessed. We are a family of privilege. Feel bad for people out there who are being bullied who don’t have support, that don’t have the women of ‘The View’ to come out and support their family.”
“There are kids committing suicide because of cyberbullying online, there are people going through rough times, there are veterans who come back — we have 20 veterans a day committing suicide — focus on these issues,” she continued. “These are the issues I beg the White House to pay attention to.”
