Tipsheet

Why John McCain's Son Should've Kept His Mouth Shut About Trump's Arlington Visit

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  September 05, 2024 12:00 PM

There was a rule that families were never meant to be weaponized in elections. Yet, as the saying goes—rules were meant to be broken. I’m not sure I agree that teenagers and youngsters should be attacked as such, but that must change in the coming years. However, full-grown adults have become fair game whether we like it or not. To that end, we have this unnecessary plunge into the public arena made by the son of the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a family with no love for the former president. Jimmy McCain said he’s voting for Kamala Harris and said Trump’s actions at Arlington Cemetery (via The Guardian): 

The son of the late Republican senator John McCain – whose war record was disparaged by Donald Trump – has added his voice to criticism of the former president’s controversial Arlington cemetery visit, accusing him of violating a sacred burial site for political purposes. 

First Lieutenant Jimmy McCain, an intelligence officer in the 158th infantry regiment of the national guard, said Trump’s behaviour at the cemetery – America’s most revered burial ground for fallen military personnel and military heroes – was in line with previous acts of disrespect. 

He told CNN that Trump’s attitude to military service has driven him away from the Republican party of his father, adding that he had changed his registered voter affiliation to Democrat and planned to vote for Kamala Harris in the forthcoming presidential election. 

Oh, please—he was going to vote Democratic anyway. Yet, why should we care? We should thank Mr. McCain for his service, but this is such an explicit attempt to avoid not giving the Gold Star parents of Abbey Gate the light of day. They’ve been clamoring for the media and the Biden administration to care—the media opted to give the son of the dead Republican senator the limelight. What an atrocity. 

Also, Jimmy should’ve minded his business since his late father shot a political ad from the 2000 presidential campaign that featured him walking through the cemetery:

Donald Trump is being attacked for accepting the invitation of Gold Star families whose loved ones were lost in the suicide bombing attack at Abbey Gate in Kabul, Afghanistan, three years ago. 

It was part of the Biden administration’s shambolic exit from the country in August 2021. Trump, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris were invited. Trump attended; Biden-Harris didn’t even reply. The president was on the beach while Harris avoided the event entirely. Harris then had the gall to attack Trump, accusing him of trying to make this event into a political spectacle. It wasn’t that, but the optics looked horrible for Democrats. 

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When the media smears came, the Gold Star parents took to social media to set the record straight, and it hasn’t been pretty for Democrats. Trump was invited and attended; you people didn’t even show. Harris hasn’t even spoken to or met with the families of the 13 servicemembers who were killed in the attack.