Barack Obama to eulogize John McCain; Trump not invited to funeral
The longtime Arizona Republican senator, 81, who had been suffering from an aggressive form of brain cancer, died Saturday at home in Arizona.
Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush have been asked to deliver eulogies at Sen. John McCain‘s funeral, according to CBS News.
Details of the funeral are still being mapped out, but Donald Trump is not expected to be among the list of attendees or speakers. That’s hardly surprising. Who could forget when then-presidential candidate Trump infamously proclaimed that McCain, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, well, was not a hero because he was captured and imprisoned by member of the North Vietnamese Army?
The comment sparked widespread condemnation, including from other Republicans, and led McCain, among other reasons, to banish Trump from attending his funeral.
Still, Trump was among scores of well-wishers who took to social media this weekend to offer his “deepest sympathies and respect.”
My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2018
The longtime Republican Arizona senator died at his home Saturday at the age of 81 after suffering from an aggressive form of brain cancer, his office said in a statement, NBC News notes. His family announced Friday that he was discontinuing treatment.
Obama, who won the presidential bid against McCain in 2008, tweeted a statement Saturday that acknowledged their political differences and praised their common ground, saying, “But we shared, for all our differences, a fidelity to something higher—the ideals for which generations of Americans and immigrants alike have fought, marched, and sacrificed.”
Our statement on the passing of Senator John McCain: pic.twitter.com/3GBjNYxoj5
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 26, 2018
Bush, who won the 2000 Republican presidential nomination against McCain, released a statement, calling his former opponent, “a man of deep deep conviction and a patriot of the highest order.”
Besides Obama, other Black lawmakers and civil rights leaders mourned the loss of the man, whose “no” vote last summer against his party’s efforts to repeal Obamacare dealt a fatal blow to Trump’s effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.
“Today we not only lost a war hero and savvy politician but a man that always put true American values before himself,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson Comments on the Death of Sen. John McCain https://t.co/1NYYQlbm3H
— NAACP (@NAACP) August 26, 2018
Calif. Sen. Kamala Harris, who is believed to be gearing up for a presidential run herself in 2020, remembered her colleague as a devoted family man.
My colleague John McCain will be remembered as a devoted father and husband, war hero and a conscience of the Senate. Sending my condolences and prayers to his friends and family, and to the American people who have lost a true patriot.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 26, 2018
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker celebrated McCain’s legacy and love of America.
John McCain so warmly welcomed me to the Senate in ‘13. Our later private meeting in his office remains 1 of my most inspiring moments as a Senator.
Death may end a life but it can never end a love. John Loved America: his impact will forever endure. RIP https://t.co/c340f06GzB
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) August 26, 2018
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