John McCain Doesn’t Want Donald Trump At His Funeral – What Ignited The Feud
It seems the bad blood between Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and President Donald Trump continues to this day if recent communications from the senator’s inner circle to the White House are any indication. According to the New York Post, they informed the White House that President Trump is not invited to McCain’s eventual funeral service that will be held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. They also let them know that Vice President Mike Pence, who served with the senator in congress, had been invited to the ceremony instead.
Those familiar with the long-running feud between the ailing Arizona senator and the president remember its volatile beginnings in the 2016 presidential race, when there were several days of back-and-forth between the two. During that time, Senator McCain criticized Trump for his disparaging views of Mexican immigrants during the June, 2015, speech in which the man who would later be president announced his candidacy.
Donald Trump responded in kind three weeks later with deprecating remarks, calling McCain “incompetent” and mocking his experience as a POW during the Vietnam War. He infamously told an Iowa crowd that, “He’s not a war hero.” He later went on to say that “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
Politico reported that Trump’s remarks were met with “scattered boos,” and went on to write that he may finally have crossed the line. Later, Trump walked back the statement during a press conference soon after he made his remarks. In his statements, he said, “If somebody’s a prisoner, I consider them a war hero.”
Trump later tried to antagonize McCain further, saying that McCain did very little for veterans, and that he was very disappointed in him. Additionally, Trump strongly criticized John McCain in 2017 for his vote against the “skinny repeal” of Obamacare, an action which ultimately stopped the Senate Republicans’ bill.
Senator McCain was diagnosed in 2017 with a primary glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor. According to the American Brain Tumor Association, it is a tumor that forms in the tissue of the spinal cord and brain. Additionally, CNN reports that McCain was recently admitted to the Mayo Clinic in April for surgery to treat an “intestinal infection related to diverticulitis.”
Because of his aggressive cancer advancement and related health issues, he was unable to return to this session of the senate. However, he was able to continue working on his new book, The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and other Appreciations, which will be released later this month.
Several politicians recently visited McCain at his Arizona ranch and at the nearby hospital, where he has been in recovery. Over the past few weeks, he has greeted former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Lindsey Graham, and former Senator Joe Lieberman. McCain’s daughter, Meghan McCain, tweeted that she would also be visiting her father and that she would be returning to The View where she is a co-host next week.
Going home to Arizona to be with my family – will be back on @TheView Tuesday. Thank you all again for your prayers, patience, understanding and compassion during this time. It means the world to me and my entire family. ???
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) May 4, 2018
