During a rally in Arizona, a state where the McCain family holds significant influence, J.D. Vance addressed the enduring feud between former President Donald Trump and the late Senator John McCain. Vance acknowledged the contentious history between the two figures, who often clashed on political and personal grounds. However, he sought to downplay the significance of their disputes, suggesting that despite their differences, both men prioritized the country’s well-being over personal grievances.
The Washington Examiner reported that Vance minimized the tension between these two prominent Republican factions.
Speaking to voters in Arizona, where the McCains are a household name, Vance acknowledged Trump’s turbulent relationship with McCain, a centrist Republican who died of brain cancer in 2018. But he claimed the two “didn’t let their personal grievances get in the way of serving the country.”
“I do not believe for a second that if John McCain were alive today, and he sees what’s going on at the American southern border, that he would support Kamala Harris and all the destruction that she’s brought,” Vance said in Phoenix on Thursday.
“I really don’t believe that,” he added.
But the bad blood extends back much further. In 2015, Trump famously doubted that John McCain, a naval officer in the Vietnam War, was a hero since he was captured behind enemy lines.
Their relationship soured again in 2017 when John McCain cast the deciding Republican vote against the “skinny” repeal of Obamacare in the Senate.
Earlier in the week, Democrats trotted out John McCain’s son to pretend that Trump had violated a sacred honor when he participated in an event at Arlington National Cemetery at the request of the gold star families who died during Joe Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.
During an interview on CNN, McCain said that after last week’s events at the cemetery, he registered as a Democrat and decided to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris this fall.
