The son of the late Republican Sen. John McCain, whose war record was denigrated by President Donald Trump, has joined the criticism of the former president’s controversial visit to Arlington National Cemetery, accusing him of violating a sacred burial ground for political purposes.
1st Lt. Jimmy McCain, an intelligence officer with the National Guard’s 158th Infantry Regiment, said Trump’s actions at America’s most revered cemetery, where fallen service members and military heroes are buried, are in keeping with previous acts of disrespect.
He told CNN that Trump’s stance on military service has alienated him from his father’s Republican Party, adding that he has changed his registered voter status to Democrat and plans to vote for Kamala Harris in the next presidential election.
Trump’s reputation for disparaging military personnel began during his first presidential campaign in 2016, when he said McCain, who died in 2018, did not deserve the title of war hero because he was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.
He later reportedly called American soldiers buried in France’s World War I cemeteries “morons” and “losers” and questioned the value of the Congressional Medal of Honor, which is usually awarded for military heroism.
McCain said his change in political stance was partly influenced by comments made by Trump about his father: “When I hear things like that, that he’s a loser because he got caught, I don’t think I can look past that,” he said.
But Mr McCain also suggested in a broadcast last week that Mr Trump had effectively usurped the service of fallen soldiers. “Those men and women who lie there have no choice,” said Mr McCain, whose grandfather and great-grandfather are buried at Arlington.
The Republican presidential candidate drew widespread condemnation and a rebuke from the U.S. military after his visit to the cemetery, ostensibly to mark the third anniversary of a suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. soldiers as U.S. troops withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021, turned into a campaign photo opportunity.
According to reports, Trump campaign staffers shoved aside a female cemetery official who was trying to enforce federal rules that prohibit cameras and film equipment from being brought into Section 60, the compound for those killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
Photos and video were later released of a smiling Trump giving a thumbs up and posing with the families of fallen soldiers he had invited, with the graves of other soldiers in plain view in the background, without their permission. Some families have condemned the visit.
President Trump defended it and released a statement of support from relatives of six servicemen killed in the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing.
He went further in a statement on his website Truth Social on Wednesday, accusing Democratic presidential candidate Harris of making up the story and claiming the altercation never happened.
“There was no clash or ‘battle’ at Arlington National Cemetery last week,” he wrote. “That was a fabrication by Comrade Kamala and her misinformation brigade. She made the whole thing up to make up for the fact that she and Sleepy Joe are bleeding over our incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
But Mr McCain told CNN he suggested Mr Trump’s actions were driven by insecurity about his own lack of military experience.
“That was a violation,” he said. “I think anybody who has spent any significant amount of time in uniform inherently understands that these are not you, these are people who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of their country.”
“Many of the men and women who served their country chose to do something greater than themselves. They woke up one morning, signed on the dotted line, raised their right hand and chose to serve their country. This is an experience Donald Trump has never had. I wonder if he’s thinking about this a lot.”