President Trump on Tuesday defended his attacks on the late Sen. John McCain, saying he was “never a fan” of the Arizona Republican.
“I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with the president of Brazil.
During a series of tweets last weekend, the president again criticized Mr. McCain for failing to provide the crucial vote to repeal Obamacare in July 2018, shortly before his death from brain cancer.
Mr. Trump was also taking aim at Mr. McCain’s role in sharing the so-called “Steele Dossier” with the FBI and the media in late 2016. The president said new court papers revealed that Mr. McCain “sent the Fake Dossier to the FBI and Media hoping to have it printed BEFORE the Election. He & the Dems, working together, failed.”
The criticism prompted Meghan McCain, the late senator’s daughter, to say of the president, “He will never be a great man.”
Mr. Trump said of Mr. McCain Tuesday, “I’m very unhappy that he didn’t repeal and replace Obamacare. He campaigned on repealing and replacing Obamacare for years. And then he got to a vote and he said thumbs down.”
If Mr. McCain had provided the decisive vote, the president said, “Our country would have saved a trillion and we would have had great health care.”
“I think that’s disgraceful,” he said of the late senator’s action.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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