Cindy McCain Suggests Trump Calling Soldiers “Losers” Pushed Her to Endorse Biden

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:13 pm

Cindy McCain has said Donald Trump’s reported mockery of U.S. servicemembers killed and missing in action contributed to her decision to endorse Joe Biden.

The widow of the late Republican Senator John McCain spoke to NBC’S Today Show on Wednesday following her overnighted endorsement of the former Vice President.

“You’re a military mom. Was that the last straw?” the network’s Savannah Guthrie asked, referring to the President’s reported comments calling U.S. troops “suckers” and “losers.”

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“Pretty much,” McCain said. “It’s a culmination of things, but I do believe that our men and women that serve in the military are not losers.”

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Trump’s remarks about troops were first reported by The Atlantic at the beginning of September and were corroborated by a variety of news outlets, including the Washington Post.

“In one account, the president told senior advisers that he didn’t understand why the U.S. government placed such value on finding soldiers missing in action because they had performed poorly and gotten caught and deserved what they got, according to a person familiar with the discussion,” the Post reported.

McCain mentioned the military in her statement endorsing Biden. Senator McCain was a Vietnam War veteran whom Trump had mocked as “not a war hero.”

“[Biden] will be a commander in chief that the finest fighting force in the history of the world can depend on, because he knows what it is like to send a child off to fight,” McCain said.

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Darragh Roche

Darragh Roche is a journalist covering U.S. politics and media