Donald Trump Can't Stop His Mocking: 'I Was Never a Fan of John McCain and I Never Will Be'
Donald Trump has been a critic of Senator John McCain long before he became the president of the United States. He’s attacked him for his military service and his role as a politician.
On Tuesday the president, once again, lashed out at the late McCain revealing that he “was never a fan” and would never be one.
During an appearance alongside Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, President Donald Trump spoke to reporters about the late Republican Senator John McCain from the White House. He criticized the late Arizona politician saying, “I was never a fan of John McCain and never will be.”
NEW: "I was never a fan of John McCain, and I never will be," Pres. Trump says in the Oval Office, calling the late senator's health care vote "disgraceful." https://t.co/wOFpFFu88A pic.twitter.com/CWXsYvop46
— ABC News (@ABC) March 19, 2019
The president said he was “very unhappy that he [McCain] didn’t repeal and replace Obamacare, as you know.” Speaking about McCain failing to vote against repealing key parts of the Obamacare in 2017, Trump said: “They got to a vote, and he said thumbs down. I think that’s disgraceful."
He further added, “There are other things," before explaining that he’d never liked McCain. The late senator passed away last August after struggling with brain cancer.
Ok you aren't a fan. One more in a long list of things you are not.
— Mark Salter (@MarkSalter55) March 19, 2019
Honest
Brave
Smart
Tough
Disciplined
Kind
Generous
Patriotic
A fan of John McCain
Had you been a fan, the Senator would have wondered what he had done so wrong that he earned the approval of a man he despised. https://t.co/YMXWC2Ch9E
McCain’s close ally, Mark Salter, took to Twitter on the same day to defend the late politician against Trump. He wrote: "Ok you aren't a fan. One more in a long list of things you are not. Honest. Brave. Smart. Tough. Disciplined. Kind. Generous. Patriotic. A fan of John McCain.”
Salter added, "Had you been a fan, the Senator would have wondered what he had done so wrong that he earned the approval of a man he despised.” The ally served as a speechwriter and co-author of many books written by McCain.
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
Two years ago, McCain had defied Trump by returning to the Capitol less than a week after his cancer was diagnosed. There he cast his vote on the Republican effort to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act.
Initially, the senator had voted in favor of debating the bill, but he later cast a vote against the repeal, angering Trump. However, their feud began long before that.
.@MeghanMcCain addresses Pres. Trump’s Saturday tweet criticizing her father Sen. John McCain: “He spends his weekend obsessing over great men because he knows it and I know it and all of you know it — he will never be a great man.”https://t.co/p6oiZYUr74 pic.twitter.com/8HSpllAcEz
— The View (@TheView) March 18, 2019
During the 2016 campaign, the president attacked McCain by saying “he’s not a war hero.” Trump explained: "He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured.”
During the Vietnam War, McCain's was captured after his plane was shot down. He then spent five years as a prisoner of war, which had lifelong physical consequences for him.
John McCain has never and would never care what you think of him. He’s somewhere laughing at the fact that you still can’t keep his name out of your slimy mouth.
— Em K (@EmK__g) March 19, 2019
Last Sunday, the president lashed out at the senator accusing him of sending a Trump opposition-research dossier to multiple media outlets in late 2016. The document was compiled by a former British spy, Christopher Steele.
The accusations came after Trump heard from conservative media outlets that court documents said a former aide to the Republican senator was the source of the leak. In December 2016, McCain gave a version of the dossier to the FBI after the presidential election.
Trump isn’t a fan of anyone that calls him out, holds him accountable or confronts him with reality. #NarcissisticPersonalityDisorder
— Mother_Kitten (@kricket_71) March 19, 2019
However, when he was asked if it was true he denied being a source. It was published by Buzzfeed in January 2017. On "The View on Monday," the senator’s daughter, Meghan McCain, defended him.
She said Trump "spends his weekend obsessing over great men" because "he will never be a great man." The senator’s daughter added, "My father was his kryptonite.”
Attacking McCain over the Steele Dossier, the president tweeted that the senator had been “last in his class” at the US Naval Academy. He called the Steele document a “Fake Dossier” and claimed that McCain tried to work with Democrats to derail him but “failed.”