Arizona Senator John McCain got into an explosive exchange during a town hall Tuesday afternoon with a constituent who is sick of seeing his tax dollars going to fund al-Qaeda.
Videos of the event show the unidentified man pointing his finger at McCain and accusing him of working alongside the Obama administration to send American military aid to rebels fighting the Assad regime in Syria. Months ago, McCain advocated the arming of Syrian rebels, who have been associated with the terrorist group al-Qaeda.
Anyway, though the U.S. has reportedly halted aid (lethal and non-lethal) to Syrian rebels, the man in McCain’s town hall seemed like he wanted to make a point about our seemingly contradictory involvement over there in the first place.
McCain, meanwhile, repeatedly attempted to calm the man down so that he could give his side.
“I’ve been to Syria,” McCain told the man. “Americans have not supplied many weapons at all.”
The confrontation got even more heated from there, with the man openly berating the senator. McCain called him “rude” and waved him away. The man then left the town hall on his own, though he was apparently seconds away from actually being escorted out.
A political reporter from The Arizona Republic tweeted a photo of the confrontation:
McCain tells guy in shorts (standing) that he is as rude as anyone who has come to a town-hall session: pic.twitter.com/5ekyZQbRez
— Dan Nowicki (@dannowicki) October 22, 2013
McCain town hall discussion turns to #Syria and quickly gets overheated. Angry guy in crowd leaves in advance of getting escorted out.
— Dan Nowicki (@dannowicki) October 22, 2013
McCain also reportedly defended his record as a “Reagan Republican,” and opined that the Washington Redskins should change their “offensive” name. By the way, those 2016 presidential rumors might be bunk. He told reporters that he’ll be seeking another term as senator.
A brief video of McCain’s town hall confrontation can be seen below. Fun fact: This isn’t the first time the Arizona pol has been angrily berated at a town hall specifically regarding Syria. Check out a playlist of former confrontations here .
