Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio told a Phoenix rally this week that the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would not support Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris due to her open-border policies and the "destruction she's wrought."
Vance made the comments Thursday in response to a question from a rallygoer regarding McCain's "complicated" legacy with Republican nominee Donald Trump. Also, Army 1st Lt. Jimmy McCain, Sen. McCain's youngest son, this week said he changed his voter registration and plans to vote for Harris.
"I do not believe for a second that if John McCain were alive today and he sees what's going on at the American southern border, that he would support Kamala Harris and all the destruction she's wrought," Vance told the assembly. "I really don't believe that."
He added, "Who cares what somebody's family thinks about a presidential race? I care what these people care about a presidential race."
Sen. McCain died in August 2018 from an aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma.
"John McCain died, what, five, six, seven years ago? And the media is turning it into a story: 'What John McCain's family says about Donald Trump,'" Vance went on. "I don't know if anybody noticed, but pretty much every single member of Tim Walz's family came out and endorsed Donald Trump. Is that a bigger story than what John McCain's son said? I think so."
Trump and Sen. McCain did not get along, with Trump deriding McCain's military record.
"He's not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured," Trump said in July 2015. Four years later, Trump said, "I was never a fan of John McCain, and I never will be."
Vance said, "Whatever John McCain's family thinks, whatever John McCain would have ultimately thought about Kamala Harris' policies, my goal here is to persuade every single person in this room and every single person in the state of Arizona that their lives will be better if they elect Donald J. Trump."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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