Trump declines to say if McCain would have made better president than Obama

President Trump on Thursday declined to say whether he thinks the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would have made a better president than former President Obama, McCain’s 2008 rival.

“I don’t want to comment on it,” Trump said when asked the question during an interview with Bloomberg News. “I have a very strong opinion, all right.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders stared at Trump as he answered the question, Bloomberg reported. Trump joked that Sanders was “having a nervous breakdown.”

{mosads}“Maybe I’ll give you that answer some day later,” he told the news outlet.

McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, said in a farewell statement released after his death Saturday that it was a “privilege” to concede defeat to Obama during their White House battle.

Trump has been a fierce critic of Obama for years, even after succeeding him as president. He has repeatedly criticized the former president over various foreign policy decisions and has reversed a number of major Obama-era policies while withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal and Paris climate accord.

Trump on Thursday also defended his handling of the death of McCain, who died at the age of 81 after a more than yearlong battle with brain cancer.

The president told Bloomberg News that he doesn’t believe he missed an opportunity to unite the country with his response to McCain’s death.

“No, I don’t think I did at all,” he said. “I’ve done everything that they requested and no, I don’t think I have at all.”

Trump faced bipartisan criticism earlier this week over his response to the longtime Arizona senator’s death.

Trump’s initial condolences expressed for McCain, which he made over Twitter, did not include any praise for the senator. He reportedly nixed a White House statement praising McCain following his death.

Trump also drew backlash Monday when White House flags returned to full staff less than 48 hours after McCain’s death. The White House then re-lowered the flags to half staff that afternoon.

Trump told Bloomberg on Thursday that he and McCain had “very strong disagreements.”

“We had our disagreements and they were very strong disagreements,” he said. “I disagreed with many of the things that I assume he believed in.”