Cindy McCain endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for president Tuesday in a rebuke of U.S. President Donald Trump by the widow of the GOP’s 2008 nominee.
Trump has had a fraught relationship with members of John McCain’s household since he disparaged the Arizona senator throughout his 2016 marketing campaign. However the McCains have till now stopped wanting endorsing Trump’s rivals.
Cindy McCain cited the decadeslong friendship between her household and Biden’s and their bond because the mother and father of kids serving within the army.
“He helps the troops and is aware of what it means for somebody who has served,” McCain stated in a telephone interview. “Not solely to like somebody who has served, however understands what it means to ship a toddler into fight. We’ve been nice buddies for a few years, however we’ve a standard thread in that we’re Blue Star households.”
McCain’s backing may assist Biden attraction to Republicans disaffected with the GOP president and provides the previous vp a lift in Arizona, an important swing state that McCain represented in Congress for 35 years. He’s remained a revered determine since his 2018 dying from problems of a mind tumor, notably with the unbiased voters whom Biden is courting.
“I made a decision to take a stand, and hopefully different individuals will see the identical factor. Different ladies notably,” McCain stated. “You’ll have to step out of your consolation zone just a little bit, however Biden is by far the most effective candidate within the race.”
McCain stated she hasn’t voted for a Democrat since she was 18 and adopted the lead of her mother and father. She stays a registered Republican and has no plans to vary, she stated.
Biden instructed donors on Tuesday night that McCain’s endorsement was coming “due to what (Trump) talks about how my son and John and others who’re heroes, who served their nation. You realize, he stated they’re ‘losers, suckers.’”
Biden was referring to feedback Trump reportedly made mocking the American conflict lifeless. Trump has denied making the remarks, first reported by way of nameless sources by The Atlantic, however most of the feedback had been later confirmed by The Related Press.
Cindy McCain had not initially been anticipated to supply an specific endorsement of Biden, however she had already gone to bat for his presidential run. She lent her voice to a video that aired in the course of the Democratic Nationwide Conference and was centered on Biden’s shut friendship along with her late husband.
John McCain was assigned to be a army aide for Biden, then a senator, throughout an abroad journey, and their households fashioned a permanent friendship. Biden and his spouse launched the McCains to one another,
They later shared a grim bond over glioblastoma, an aggressive most cancers that killed Biden’s son Beau three years earlier than McCain succumbed to the identical illness.
John McCain stated in 2016 that he couldn’t help Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, citing Trump’s demeaning feedback about ladies.
“It’s not nice for me to surrender the nominee of my social gathering,” McCain stated throughout a debate as he sought his sixth time period within the Senate. “He received the nomination truthful and sq..”
A Navy pilot, John McCain was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967. He was captured, overwhelmed and held prisoner for greater than 5 years, refusing to be launched forward of different American servicemembers.
Throughout his 2016 marketing campaign, Trump stated of McCain, “He’s not a conflict hero. He was a conflict hero as a result of he was captured. I like individuals who weren’t captured.” McCain later angered Trump together with his dramatic thumbs-down vote towards repealing Obama’s well being care regulation.
The McCains’ daughter Meghan McCain has been outspoken concerning the ache she feels when the president disparages her father. Biden consoled Meghan McCain on an look on “The View” after her father was recognized with the most cancers that finally took his life. She has stated Biden usually reaches out to her to supply help, after shedding his personal son Beau to the identical most cancers in 2015.
Trump wasn’t invited to John McCain’s funeral.
© 2020 The Canadian Press
