Former President Obama praised Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) ability to transcend partisan fights at his funeral on Saturday while blasting the “bombast and insult and phony controversies” of the current political climate.
Obama praised McCain, his 2008 presidential rival, during a eulogy at his funeral service in Washington, saying the longtime Arizona senator called on Americans to be “bigger” than politics based on “fear.”
“So much of our politics, public life, public discourse can seem small and mean and petty, trafficking in bombast, and insult, and phony controversies, and manufactured outrage,” Obama told those gathered at the Washington National Cathedral.{mosads}
“It’s the politics that pretends to be brave and tough but in fact is born of fear,” Obama said. “John called on us to be bigger than that. He called on us to be better than that.”
During his remarks, Obama recalled how the senator would sometimes visit him at the White House for private discussions on policy.
“Our disagreements didn’t go away during these private conversations,” Obama told attendees.
“Those were real and they were often deep. But we enjoyed the time we shared away from the bright lights, and we laughed with each other, and we learned from each other,” he added.
The former president said that, despite their political differences, he always knew he and McCain were acting out of a shared desire to do what was best for the country.
“We never doubted the other man’s sincerity or the other man’s patriotism or that, when all is said and done, we were on the same team,” Obama said.
“John was a pretty conservative guy. Trust me, I was on the receiving end of some of those votes. But he did understand that some principles transcend politics. Some values transcend party,” he added.
Obama joined former President George W. Bush and McCain’s daughter Meghan McCain in delivering speeches eulogizing the former senator, who died last weekend at the age of 81 after a battle with brain cancer.
Various public figures, dignitaries and lawmakers from both parties attended the funeral services Saturday.
President Trump was not invited to the service, but his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner attended, along with Defense Secretary James Mattis and White House chief of staff John Kelly, among others.
The former senator will be laid to rest Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy, his alma mater, in Annapolis, Md.