Tag: John McCain

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Sen. John McCain Takes Exception With Trump’s “Fire & Fury” Comments To North Korea

Sen. John McCain

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said he “takes exception” to President Trump’s “fire and fury” remarks made after the news reported that North Korea has apparently produced a nuclear warhead small enough to launch on an intercontinental missile.

Via The Hill:

“I don’t know what he’s saying and I’ve long ago given up trying to interpret what he says,” McCain said of Trump during an interview with a local Arizona radio station first reported by NBC.

“That kind of rhetoric, I’m not sure how it helps.”

McCain said the U.S. risks getting into a serious confrontation with North Korea, and invoked former President Teddy Roosevelt’s famous “big stick” policy.

“In other words, the old walk softly but carry a big stick, Teddy Roosevelt’s saying, which I think is something that should’ve applied because all it’s going to do is bring us closer to a serious confrontation,” McCain warned. “I think this is very, very, very serious.”

Trump warned North Korea not to make any threats to the United States on Tuesday after The Washington Post reported that North Korea has produced a nuclear warhead small enough to place on a missile.

“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,” Trump told reporters Tuesday.

“He has been very threatening beyond a normal state, and as I said they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.”

McCain said he “takes exception” to Trump’s remarks.

“I take exception to the president’s words because you got to be sure you can do what you say you’re going to do,” said McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

It goes without saying McCain (served in Air Force, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee) has a vastly more educated depth of understanding than Trump (five deferments for Vietnam for “bone spurs”) when it comes to military action.

A new CBS News poll shows 61% of Americans feel “uneasy” about Trump’s ability to handle a North Korean nuclear situation.

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Trump Blames Congress For “All-Time Low” Russian Relationship, McCain Slaps Back “Thank Putin For Attacking Our Democracy”

Sen. John McCain

A day after Donald Trump signed into law a bill passed with massive bipartisan support in Congress that imposes new sanctions on Russia and curbs the president’s authority to lift them, Trump took to Twitter to complain about the “flawed” legislation.

In addition to imposting new sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea, the legislation impairs the president’s ability to lift any sanctions put in place by the Obama administration in retaliation for Russian election meddling.

Veteran Republican Sen. John McCain didn’t miss a beat responding to Trump, saying any blame for bad blood lies at the feet of Russian President Putin:

And a few more voices from across the political spectrum:

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Senate GOP “Skinny Repeal” Bill Goes Down In 49-51 As John McCain Casts Deciding Vote

Sen. John McCain

It was a late night vote that finally put the nail in the Senate Republicans seven year plans to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act.

A vote that saw Arizona Sen. John McCain remind folks why he likes to be called a “maverick.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s “skinny repeal” went down in the vote of 49-51.

From the New York Times:

Senator John McCain of Arizona, who just this week returned to the Senate after receiving a diagnosis of brain cancer, cast the decisive vote to defeat the proposal, joining two other Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, in opposing it.

The truncated Republican plan that ultimately fell was far less than what Republicans once envisioned. Republican leaders, unable to overcome complaints from both moderate and conservative members of their caucus, said the skeletal plan was just a vehicle to permit negotiations with the House, which passed a much more ambitious repeal bill in early May.

The “skinny repeal” bill, as it became known at the Capitol this week, would still have had broad effects on health care. The bill would have increased the number of people who are uninsured by 15 million next year compared with current law, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Premiums for people buying insurance on their own would have increased roughly 20 percent, the budget office said.

Earlier in the day, Sens. McCain, Graham, and Johnson looked for assurances that, if passage of the “skinny repeal” would keep the process open, they might vote for it IF Speaker of the House Paul Rayn would promise to to swift vote the legislation and send it to the president “as-is” just for a win. Ryan issued a weak assurance but it seems not wholly convincing.

While the attention is focused on McCain, it’s important to note that Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska had been stalwart “no’s” all week long.

The Twitterverse responded to the last night vote:

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John McCain: American Leadership Was Better Under President Obama

Sen. John McCain

Senator John McCain responding to The Guardian about what message Trump had sent to the United Kingdom last week by criticizing the Mayor of London after three attackers left 8 dead and dozens wounded:

“What do you think the message is? The message is that America doesn’t want to lead,” McCain said, while adding of the rest of the world: “They are not sure of American leadership, whether it be in Siberia or whether it be in Antarctica.”

Asked if America’s standing on the global stage was better under Barack Obama, McCain, a fervent critic of the previous administration’s foreign policy, responded: “As far as American leadership is concerned, yes.”

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McCain: GOPers Will Unite To Oppose “Any” SCOTUS Nominee From Hillary Clinton

Sen. John McCain

CNN reports that Sen. John McCain, in an interview with 1210 WPHT Philadelphia radio, said that Republicans will oppose “any” nominee from Hillary Clinton for the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I promise you that we will be united against any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary Clinton, if she were president, would put up,” McCain said in comments meant to bolster the campaign of Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who is in a tight reelection race.

Hillary Clinton consistently says she’s ready to work with “anyone” in Congress on finding common ground. Considering the country is pretty fed up with a dysfunctional, partisan government, I’m not sure that’s a winning message from McCain.

And this is before we even HAVE the presidential election.

Of course, a spokesperson from McCain’s Senate office later walked back those comments:

“Senator McCain believes you can only judge people by their record and Hillary Clinton has a clear record of supporting liberal judicial nominees,” said McCain spokesperson Rachael Dean. “That being said, Senator McCain will, of course, thoroughly examine the record of any Supreme Court nominee put before the Senate and vote for or against that individual based on their qualifications as he has done throughout his career.”

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John McCain Denounces Donald Trump’s Attack On Khan Family

Over the weekend, Donald Trump found his comments about Khizr and Ghazala Khan being repudiated by several GOP lawmakers including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Now, former Republican presidential candidate and military veteran Sen. John McCain has issued what is the clearest condemnation of Trump’s attack on the Gold Star family.

The New York Times reports:

In a remarkable and lengthy rebuke of his party’s nominee, Senator John McCain sharply criticized Donald J. Trump’s comments about the family of a fallen Muslim Army captain, saying, “While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.”

Mr. McCain, a war hero whose service and capture in Vietnam was also once derided by Mr. Trump, had stayed largely silent over the weekend as Mr. Trump’s feud with the parents of Capt. Humayun Khan brewed, waiting until Monday morning to release a prepared statement.

“In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier’s parents,” he wrote of the parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan. “He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States — to say nothing of entering its service. I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump’s statement. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers or candidates.”

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John McCain: Obama Is “Directly Responsible” For Orlando Shooting

Sen. John McCain

Reporters were so surprised, they asked him twice.

From the AP:

Republican Sen. John McCain said Thursday that President Barack Obama is “directly responsible” for the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, because of the rise of the Islamic State group on the president’s watch. But he later issued a statement saying that he “misspoke.”

“Barack Obama is directly responsible for it, because when he pulled everybody out of Iraq, al-Qaida went to Syria, became ISIS, and ISIS is what it is today thanks to Barack Obama’s failures, utter failures, by pulling everybody out of Iraq,” a visibly angry McCain said as the Senate debated a spending bill.

Questioned on his startling assertion, McCain initially repeated it: “Directly responsible. Because he pulled everybody out of Iraq, and I predicted at the time that ISIS would go unchecked and there would be attacks on the United States of America. It’s a matter of record, so he is directly responsible.”

And then, he started walking it back:

It’s worth noting that when our troops left, McCain had something positive to say:

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Campaign Ad: A Republican Salute To Hillary Clinton

Current GOP nominees praise Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton.

Emphatically.

Oh – of course, this was all before she began to run for prez.

How quickly they turn.

Very effective ad in that it literally uses their own words (Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Donald Trump) from not long ago.

Homerun.