President Donald Trump will officially not be attending Sen. John McCain’s funeral, a spokesman for the deceased lawmaker said Monday.
BREAKING: Spokesman for John McCain said President Trump will not be attending the Arizona senator’s funeral.
— justin jouvenal (@jjouvenal) August 27, 2018
McCain passed away Saturday evening after a nearly year-long fight with brain cancer. McCain passed away only one day after announcing that he was discontinuing treatment for his illness. The former senator continued to carry out his senatorial duties while undergoing treatment.
McCain previously made his funeral wishes clear to Trump months before he died. The senator and president feuded several times throughout the 2016 presidential campaign and while in office, with McCain casting the deciding vote against an Obamacare overhaul.
The Arizona senator requested the former President’s George W. Bush and Barack Obama eulogize him at his upcoming funeral.
McCain’s former associate, Rick Davis, delivered a final message from the senator saying U.S. greatness is weakened “when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideas rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.”
Davis also announced, “The president will not be, as far as we know, attending the funeral. That’s just a fact.”
BREAKING: A “final message” from the late John McCain is read by an aide. pic.twitter.com/RLZRGfOAQ4
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 27, 2018