WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Sen. John McCain’s comments about President Donald Trump and the Vietnam War (all times local):
11:45 a.m.
Sen. John McCain says he does not consider President Donald Trump to be a draft dodger. But he says the system that allowed Trump and other wealthy Americans to use medical deferments to avoid military service during the Vietnam War was wrong.
McCain said Monday during an appearance on ABC’s “The View” that he believes “the system was so wrong that certain Americans could evade their responsibilities to serve the country.”
While poor Americans went to ware after being drafted, McCain said “those who were wealthy got a doctor to say you have bone spurs or a migraine or whatever it is and they were excused.”
One of Trump’s five draft deferments came as a result of a doctor’s letter stating he suffered from bone spurs in his feet.
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7:37 a.m.
U.S. Sen. John McCain has issued a veiled criticism of President Donald Trump’s medical deferments that kept him from serving in the Vietnam War.
In a C-SPAN interview, McCain lamented that the military “drafted the lowest income level of America and the highest income level found a doctor that would say they had a bone spur.”
One of Trump’s five draft deferments came as a result of a physician’s letter stating he suffered from bone spurs in his feet. Trump’s presidential campaign described the issue as a temporary problem.
McCain spent six years as a prisoner of war after his plane was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967.
Trump derided McCain’s service in 2015, stating his fellow Republican wasn’t a “war hero” and adding “I like people who weren’t captured.”
McCain’s spokeswoman didn’t immediately return a request for comment Monday.
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