Cindy and Meghan McCain spoke out Wednesday against President Donald Trump’s remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, calling his remarks about Sen. John McCain “incredibly hurtful.”
Speaking at CPAC, Trump referenced the Arizona Republican’s July vote against a “skinny repeal” of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
“One person walked into a room when he was supposed to go this way, and he said he was going this way, and he walked in and he went this way, and everyone said, ‘What happened, what was that all about?’ Boy oh boy, who was that, I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t want to be controversial, so I won’t use his name, OK?” Trump said during a wide-ranging remarks Friday, prompting boos from a fired-up crowd.
During a joint appearance with her mother on ABC’s “The View,” Meghan McCain said the moment made her feel “naïve” following a conversation she had with the President last fall.
The President and first lady Melania Trump called her, she said, in the wake of an Axios report that Trump mocked the Arizona senator’s Vietnam War injuries.
“I had a rally nice conversation with him and Melania and I really was under the impression this sort of fight between our families and between him and my father, especially at this particular moment would end. I understand the argument is he’s talking about policy, and that’s the attack, but it’s still particularly hurtful, especially after I’ve had this conversation with him on the phone, to have this moment of booing at CPAC … at this particular moment in time is incredibly hurtful and I feel, quite frankly, very naïve to have believed that this would be any different,” she said.
Cindy McCain touted her husband’s work since that health care vote, citing his defense bill and a human trafficking proposal he sponsored that passed Tuesday.
“I think the President fails to understand this, but more importantly, in my own — from my own feeling, we need more compassion, we need more empathy, we need more togetherness in terms of working together. We don’t need more bullying and I’m tired of it,” she said.
Cindy McCain also provided a health update on her husband, who was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, last July.
“Chemo and radiation is a very tough customer. It does so much good, but it also does a lot of damage, and so he’s recovering from the last round of chemo and radiation. He’s tough as a boot, he’s at our ranch and he’s watching today,” she said.