Inside John McCain’s Contentious Relationship With President Trump

As the Inquisitr reported on Saturday, Senator John McCain passed away at the age of 81 due to brain cancer. Senator John McCain had a contentious relationship with President Donald Trump, and as the Chicago Tribune documented, the combative relationship between the two lingered, even as McCain neared the end of his life. Throughout John McCain’s battle with brain cancer, Donald Trump continued to openly snub him, including a recent incident where the president didn’t mention the patriot by name when he signed the bill that was named for McCain, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. Purportedly, months ago, Donald Trump was disinvited to John McCain’s funeral after his battle with brain cancer worsened.

John McCain was a Navy pilot in the Vietnam War, and in 1964, his bomber was hit. McCain ejected from the aircraft, and he was then captured by North Vietnamese fighters. John McCain was a prisoner of war for over five years, and he chose to remain a prisoner and undergo torture, refusing an early release unless every man captured before him was also freed, as ABC News documented. The injuries John McCain sustained as a prisoner of war affected him for the rest of his life, leaving him incapable of raising either arm above his shoulders.

Senator John McCain demonstrated tremendous dedication, courage and patriotism throughout his life. Like most Vietnam veterans, he was proud of his service to his country, having been a naval aviator and POW for 5 ½ years. We recognize the loss of a dedicated public servant. pic.twitter.com/sbwuL7Mbdm

— Vietnam Vet Memorial (@VVMF) August 26, 2018

In 1999, during an interview with Dan Rather, Donald Trump shared words over McCain’s imprisonment in Vietnam that offended many soldiers and civilians alike, as ABC News documented.

“He was captured. Does being captured make you a hero? I don’t know. I’m not sure.”

In 2015, President Trump once again shared a similar sentiment, and he stated that he doesn’t view John McCain as a war hero.

“He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

John McCain took the high road and didn’t retaliate by attacking Donald Trump on a personal level. The war hero even endorsed Trump during his presidential run, but he later withdrew his endorsement after the famed Access Hollywood video leaked of Donald Trump bragging about assaulting women, as ABC News reported.

“Donald Trump’s behavior this week, concluding with the disclosure of his demeaning comments about women and his boasts about sexual assaults, make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for his candidacy.”

Many people felt that McCain went back to his maverick roots when the he pulled his support of the then presidential candidate, and “The Maverick” returned once again when he rejected his party’s bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in July of 2017; the senator was in Arizona receiving treatment for glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor, but that didn’t stop him from flying into Washington, D.C., to give the bill a dramatic thumbs down. John McCain was the third and last Republican needed to sink the legislation.

Staying up late to watch #Maverick give the thumb down on health care vote was a news moment I'll never forget. RIP John McCain pic.twitter.com/GpoXqfhQHq

— Chris Day (@williemoeday) August 26, 2018

Throughout his presidency, Trump has continually attacked McCain, and he even said in a USA Today op-ed that the senator would rather protect the Iraqi border than Arizona’s, as documented by the Chicago Tribune. While Trump continued to attack John personally, McCain continued to attack Trump’s words and policies. In August of 2017, white supremacists held a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and as the Chicago Tribune documented, Donald Trump described the incident as an event that was attended by “fine people on both sides.”

John McCain was quick to share his opinion of the rally in a Tweet.

White supremacists aren't patriots, they're traitors- Americans must unite against hatred & bigotry #Charlottesville https://t.co/Zr1Jg9jBXu

— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) August 12, 2017

While the late patriot didn’t attack Donald Trump by name, in an interview on C-SPAN, McCain criticized the type of draft deferment that allowed the president to avoid serving in the Vietnam War, a bone spur, as ABC News reported.

“One aspect of the conflict, by the way, that I will never ever countenance is that we drafted the lowest-income level of America, and the highest-income level found a doctor that would say that they had a bone spur. That is wrong. That is wrong. If we are going to ask every American to serve, every American should serve.”

John McCain, a senator, a war hero and patriot, served the United States of America for over 60 years, and he completed his legacy the same as he started it, as a maverick bucking his own party, including President Donald Trump.