President Trump today took more shots at the late Sen. John McCain, despite growing calls from veterans groups to stop attacking the Arizona GOP lawmaker who died last year.
In an interview with Fox Business Network, Trump called McCain “horrible” for his 2017 vote against a congressional Republican measure to repeal ObamaCare and accused him of handing a dossier of explosive claims about Trump’s ties to Russia to the FBI for “very evil purposes.”
In truth, McCain received the information after the 2016 election and immediately turned it over to the FBI, an appropriate action for a prominent lawmaker.
When asked by anchor Maria Bartiromo why he continues to criticize McCain, who died seven months ago after battling brain cancer, Trump claimed he was prompted by the news media.
“I don’t talk about it,” the president said. “People ask me the question. I didn’t bring this up. You just brought it up. You just asked the question.”
In truth, Trump has tweeted about McCain for days, and viciously attacked him yesterday during a speech in Lima, Ohio.
Navy Captain John McCain.
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) today asked Trump to let McCain “rest in peace.”
“We are chagrined by the President’s inability to let a fellow Vietnam veteran rest in peace,” VVA National President John Rowan wrote in the letter. “Mr. Trump, it’s time to move on. Help us heal our Nation and honor those who have served and sacrificed.”
It notes the timing of Trump’s criticism ahead of National Vietnam War Veterans Day, March 29.
Beginning with a series of tweets over the weekend, Trump has repeatedly attacked the late Arizona senator over the last few days.
Most recently, during the speech in Ohio, he bemoaned that he did not “get a thank you” for approving McCain’s funeral.
McCain, who died of brain cancer last August, served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.
In 1967, his jet was shot down and he spent the next 5 1/2 years in captivity as a prisoner of war.
Trump and McCain clashed often while the late senator was alive.
In 2015, during his presidential campaign, Trump mocked McCain for being captured during the war.
“He’s not a war hero,” Trump said. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
The VVA letter goes on to address individuals who avoided the draft during the Vietnam War, a possible reference to Trump’s deferment from service for bone spurs.
“We have forgiven those who received educational and medical deferments from serving in the war,” the letter states. “And we are greatly saddened by the President’s inability to let a Vietnam War hero rest in peace.”