Former Secretary of State John Kerry (D) on Monday called it “disgraceful” that President Trump made no mention of Sen. John McCain (R) at a bill signing event for legislation named for the Arizona senator.
“Disgraceful – but nothing will erase for an instant the legacy John McCain has written and is still writing every day,” Kerry tweeted shortly after Trump concluded his remarks. Like McCain, Kerry served in Vietnam.
Trump spoke for roughly a half hour at Fort Drum, N.Y., before signing this year’s annual defense policy bill. The $717 billion is officially titled the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019.
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The president did not mention McCain’s name at any point, instead referring to the bill simply as the “National Defense Authorization Act” on multiple occasions.
McCain, who has been at home in Arizona for the last several months undergoing cancer treatment, has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s rhetoric and some of his policies. He was among the strongest GOP critics of Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling last month’s summit “disgraceful.”
Trump has a history of mocking McCain, including over his service in Vietnam, where McCain was held as a prisoner of war. Trump made light of the fact in 2015, saying, “I like people that weren’t captured.”
More recently, the president frequently chides McCain at campaign rallies and White House events for voting against a “skinny” repeal of the Affordable Care Act last year, helping to doom the effort in the Senate.