Cindy McCain, whose late husband, John McCain, was a fierce GOP opponent of President Trump, carries on his legacy in a new TV ad backing Democratic challenger Joseph R. Biden.
In the ad, which began airing Saturday, Mrs. McCan extols Mr. Biden as a paragon of civility and a leader who “will bring out the best in us, not the worst.”
“Now more than ever we need a president who will put service before self, the president who will lead with courage and compassion, not ego,” she says.
She says Mr. Biden will respect service members and their families and “honor our fallen heroes.”
The will first air in McCain’s home state of Arizona, which is in play in the Nov. 3 election. The next day it will premiere nationwide on Fox News Sunday and then air on 60 Minutes and during NFL football games Sunday.
The appeal by the widow of McCain, who was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, targets GOP voters and Democrats who crossed over to support Mr. Trump in 20016, reassure them that they’re safe with Mr. Biden.
In celebrating the friendship of McCain and Mr. Biden when they served together in the Senate, Mrs. McCain also acknowledged that her husband opposed his agenda at every turn.
“They don’t see too often in the Senate they disagreed on almost everything in sight like hell on the floor, and then they go eat lunch together because they always put their friendship and their country first,” she says in the ad.
McCain also ran against the Obama-Biden ticket in the 2008 presidential race.
McCain often bucked his party on Capitol Hill. He was the go-to politician for reporters looking for a Republican to criticize his party’s president, which earned him the “maverick” moniker.
He feuded with Mr. Trump, including opposing Mr. Trump’s 2016 run for the White House. He drew the ire of Mr. Trump in 2017 by casting the deciding vote that blocked the GOP’s attempt to repeal Obamacare.
Mr. Trump frequently criticized Mr. McCain, including challenging his “war hero” status during the 2016 race by faulting him for being captured when McCain’s fighter jet was shot down in the Vietnam War.
When McCain died in 2018, Mr. Trump was not invited to the funeral.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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