Patrick Kennedy: McCain ‘wasn’t looking for the quick popularity’

Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) on Monday praised the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for his integrity, recalling that the senator was never “looking for the quick popularity” when taking a stand on an issue.

“He articulated a message of values, and you knew that they weren’t platitudes to John McCain. They were heartfelt and that’s what people connected to. They knew he spoke from a place of integrity,” Kennedy, the son of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), told CNN’s “New Day.”

{mosads}”He wasn’t looking for the quick popularity. He was really in it for the real essential truth of whatever the issue was that he was advocating for,” he added.

Kennedy said he believes McCain’s loss will be especially felt because he represented a rare type of statesmanship “in a time when so many people appear to be so petty.”

“He wasn’t looking for the quick popularity. He was really in it for the real, essential truth of whatever the issue was that he was advocating for.”: Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, son of Senator John McCain’s friend Senator Ted Kennedy, remembers McCain pic.twitter.com/en5DWh3Zsi

— New Day (@NewDay) August 27, 2018

McCain died on Saturday at age 81. Ted Kennedy, his former colleague, also died on Aug. 25, nine years prior. The two Senate giants succumbed to the same type of aggressive brain cancer.

McCain is scheduled to lie in the Arizona State Capitol on Wednesday and the U.S. Capitol on Friday. He will be buried at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., on Sunday.