NEWSWEEK
Meghan McCain, the daughter of the former Presidential candidate and prisoner of war, John McCain, has lashed out at Donald Trump after he appeared to mock the Republican veteran.
Trump, who is the clear frontrunner in the race for the 2024 GOP nomination, referenced John McCain’s vote to save the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, during an Iowa rally on Friday.
“Obamacare is a catastrophe, nobody talks about it. You know without John McCain we would have had it done,” Trump told a crowd in Newton.
Trump has previously mocked John McCain on several occasions, including stating the 2008 presidential candidate was “not a war hero” at the Iowa Family Leadership Summit in July 2015. His comments came after moderator Frank Luntz described McCain as a war hero.
“He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured,” Trump said. “I like people that weren’t captured.”
The former president appeared to mock the late Republican war veteran who was unable to raise his arms above his head due to injuries he sustained while in North Vietnamese captivity.
“But John McCain, for some reason, couldn’t get his arm up that day. Remember? He goes, like that. And that was the end of that.”
When he was senator of Arizona, McCain, who died in August 2018, cast a deciding ballot that ultimately saved the ACA following a 49-51 vote in the Senate.
After a clip of Trump’s comments about her father was shared on X, formerly Twitter, Meghan McCain hit out at the former president and praised her father’s legacy.
“My dad was an American hero. An icon. A patriot that will be remembered throughout history,” McCain said.
“I cannot buy a bagel without someone approaching me about how much they loved and miss him.
“Trump is a piece of s***, election-denying huckster whose own wife won’t campaign with him.”
Newsweek has contacted Trump’s team for comment via email.
Meghan McCain has hit out at Trump on numerous occasions. She claimed in 2021 that Trump called her to deny a report in 2017 that he mocked her father’s walk, which was also affected by his years of torture.
