An audio excerpt of Sen. John McCain’s new book released Thursday addresses his battle with cancer and message he’d like to leave behind.
“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here,” Mr. McCain, Arizona Republican, says on the recording released to National Public Radio. “Maybe I’ll have another five years. Maybe with the advances in oncology, they’ll find new treatments for my cancer that will extend my life. Maybe I’ll be gone before you hear this. My predicament is, well, rather unpredictable.”
“The Restless Wave” also talks about politics, President Trump, and the general state of American public life. He also takes some accountability for former Gov. Sarah Palin’s mistakes on the campaign trail in 2008 after selecting her as his running mate.
“She stumbled in some interviews,” Mr. McCain says, “and had a few misjudgments in the glare of the ceaseless spotlight. Those missteps, too, are on me. She didn’t put herself on the ticket. I did.”
Of Mr. Trump, who he has warred with publicly in the past, Mr. McCain says he isn’t sure what to think. He lists the president’s rhetoric on refugees, terrorists and Russian President Vladimir Putin as offensive and concerning.
“His reaction to unflattering news stories, calling them ’fake news’ whether they’re credible or not, is copied by autocrats who want to discredit and control a free press,” he writes in the book.
Mr. McCain has not been back in Washington this year, but remains engaged in the work going in the Senate from his home in Arizona.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.