Cindy McCain, the widow of late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain , has endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for president, CNN reported. She joins a growing list of Republicans who, dissatisfied with President Donald Trump, have publicly come out in support of his Democratic opponent.
Rumors that McCain’s widow would throw her support behind Biden have been circulating for weeks, ever since a video was shown during August’s Democratic National Convention that touted the relationship between Biden and the late Arizona senator. Additionally, Biden had recently begun telling his donors that Cindy McCain supported him.
In a tweet posted on Tuesday night, she confirmed the rumors.
“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,” she wrote.
In a series of follow-up tweets, she laid out why she thought the Delaware politician was the right man for the job.
First, she wrote on Twitter, which can be seen here , that Biden and her late husband might not have seen eye-to-eye on the issues and admitted the two had even argued with each other passionately. But at the end of the day, she wrote, Biden is a “good and honest man” who will “lead us with dignity.”
She also tweeted that Biden would make a great commander-in-chief of the armed forces, having known first-hand what it meant to send a child off to war, referring to his son, Beau Biden, who served in Iraq.
On Wednesday morning, McCain made the rounds of network morning news shows to expound on her endorsement.
Speaking to CBS This Morning, she said she was compelled to endorse the former vice president because she saw “a lack of character, integrity, a lack of values, presented by the person who is in charge.”
“I want to feel like my president cares about me and cares about my country, and Joe Biden does… Joe has great empathy for people in this country,” she said.
She noted that the last straw, for her, was when the news broke that Trump purportedly called American soldiers who had died in the line of duty “suckers” and “losers,” an allegation made weeks ago in The Atlantic and which Trump has steadfastly denied.
For his part, Trump is not impressed with the widow of a man with whom he had publicly battled throwing her support behind his November opponent.
“Joe Biden was John McCain’s lapdog… Cindy can have Sleepy Joe!” he tweeted Wednesday.
