President Trump reportedly has no regrets when it comes to labeling ailing Senator John McCain as not being a “war hero” during the 2016 campaign.
A Saturday Washington Post report about the long-running “bad blood” between the two men revealed a small tidbit about how deeply the feud has gone, at least from Trump’s perspective.
“Trump has told White House aides he does not regret saying McCain is not a war hero,” Washington Post White House Correspondent Josh Dawsey revealed. “He tells advisers that McCain has a vendetta against him and that he wishes he’d step down. He doesn’t plan to say a laudatory word about the ailing senator.”
Trump has told White House aides he does not regret saying McCain is not a war hero. He tells advisers that McCain has a vendetta against him and that he wishes he’d step down. He doesn’t plan to say a laudatory word about the ailing senator. https://t.co/3RWOBSHKdH
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) August 25, 2018
From the report:
Trump does not want to comment on McCain before he dies, White House officials said, and there was no effort to publish a statement Friday as many politicians released supportive comments on the ailing senator…
“He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured,” Trump said during a forum in Ames, Iowa [in 2015].
Trump refused to apologize at the time, despite criticism from nearly every corner, and has never retracted the statement. He has occasionally told people that he does not regret the comment.
Weekly Standard editor Stephen Hayes noted Trump’s refusal to apologize for the comment.
Immediately after those comments, I asked Trump at a press conference if he wanted to apologize to McCain. Trump said: “No, not at all.” When I asked him he was familiar with what happened to McCain during his captivity, Trump said: “It’s irrelevant.” https://t.co/r8n9psJndB
— Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) August 25, 2018