USA TODAY International Edition
Trump crosses new line with McCain
Assails senator’s war record; critics pile on
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took his confrontational campaign to a new level when he said Saturday that Sen. John McCain was not a war hero because he was captured by the North Vietnamese.
Sen. McCain, R- Ariz., last week criticized Trump’s rhetoric on immigration, saying the businessman at a recent rally in Phoenix had “fired up the crazies.”
Trump on Saturday shot back, saying “( McCain’s) a war hero because he got captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
At a later news conference Trump tried to explain his remarks, but did not offer an apology.
Reaction was swift and harsh, with Trump’s GOP presidential rivals and even conservative leaders of the Republican Party — who are no fans of McCain’s politics — decrying Trump’s remarks.
“The difference between Sen. John McCain and Donald Trump: Trump shot himself down. McCain and American veterans are true heroes,” GOP 2012 presidential contender Mitt Romney tweeted.
“Senator McCain is an American hero because he served his country and sacrificed more than most can imagine. Period. There is no place in our party or our country for comments that disparage those who have served honorably,” the Republican National Committee said in a statement.
McCain, a Navy pilot, was a prisoner of war for nearly six years in Vietnam after being shot down while flying a mission.
Critics of Trump’s remarks pointed out that he did not serve, instead receiving four student deferments and one medical deferment.
Trump, at the news conference, offered this clarification: “If a person is captured, they’re a hero as far as I’m concerned. I don’t like the job John McCain is doing in the Senate because he is not taking care of our veterans.”
Trump’s fellow 2016 hopefuls quickly took to Twitter, as well:
And Meghan McCain, McCain’s daughter, said she was “horrified.”