Cindy McCain, the wife of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), officially endorsed Joe Biden for president this evening, saying the former vice president “stands up for our values.”
“My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden,” McCain tweeted.
“Joe and I don’t always agree on the issues, and I know he and John certainly had some passionate arguments, but he is a good and honest man. He will lead us with dignity,” she said. “He will be a commander in chief that the finest fighting force in the history of the world can depend on, because he knows what it is like to send a child off to fight.”
My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden.
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) September 22, 2020
Biden thanked McCain for her support in a later tweet, adding, “This election is bigger than any one political party. It requires all of us to come together as one America to restore the soul of the nation.”
Cindy — I’m deeply honored to have your support and your friendship. This election is bigger than any one political party. It requires all of us to come together as one America to restore the soul of the nation. Together, we’ll get it done. https://t.co/Cwv27QuNVo
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 23, 2020
The high-profile endorsement from the widow of the 2008 Republican presidential nominee comes as Biden attempts to peel off independents and Republicans alienated by Trump’s comments and actions — including in Arizona, which has emerged as a major electoral battleground.
Trump has frequently attacked John McCain by name, including in 2015, when he said he didn’t consider McCain a war hero because he preferred those who were not captured.
The endorsement comes after Biden announced that McCain would be backing him, saying she made the choice to endorse his campaign after reports surfaced that President Trump denigrated fallen service members.
“Maybe I shouldn’t say it, but I’m about to go on one of these Zooms with John McCain’s wife, who is … endorsing me because of what [Trump] talks about with my son and John’s, who are heroes, who served their country. You know, he said they’re losers, they’re suckers,” Biden said during a fundraiser today.
The Atlantic first reported earlier this month that Trump privately belittled service members who died in World War I as “losers” and “suckers.”
Fox News and other outlets subsequently confirmed some of the details of the story, and Trump and a number of current and former White House officials said the president never made the comments.
Trump also raised eyebrows during his presidential campaign in 2015 when he said John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, was not a hero because he preferred war heroes who weren’t “captured.”
Cindy McCain released a video during the Democratic National Convention this summer underscoring the friendship between Biden and her husband, but she did not explicitly endorse the former vice president at the time.
Biden during his campaign has underscored his ability to work with Republicans, citing his time working across the aisle in the Senate, in a bid to win over swing voters, though the move has drawn rebukes from progressives who say hopes for bipartisanship are quixotic in today’s bitter political atmosphere.