TUCSON, Ariz. — Former President Barack Obama on Friday contrasted former President Donald Trump’s character to that of the late Sen. John McCain throughout a packed rally on the University of Arizona.
Obama, who confronted off in opposition to McCain in his profitable bid for the White House in 2008, supplied solely sort phrases for his onetime political foe throughout his Friday remarks on behalf of the Harris-Walz marketing campaign.
“Being right here in Tucson, I’m serious about my pal, John McCain,” mentioned Obama, chatting with a number of thousand Arizonans.
“I don’t wish to over-romanticize our relationship,” Obama continued, incomes laughter from the gang. “But you understand what? He understood that some values transcend social gathering. He believed in sincere argument and listening to the views of different folks. He didn’t demonize his political opponents.”
Obama additionally praised McCain for defending him in the course of the 2008 election when a girl instructed McCain throughout a city corridor in Lakeville, Minnesota, that she didn’t belief Obama and referred to as him an “Arab.”
“No, ma’am, he is a good household man, citizen, who I simply occur to have disagreements with on elementary points,” responded McCain to the voter, producing claps from the gang.
“One of essentially the most disturbing issues about this election and Donald Trump’s rise in politics is how we appear to have put aside the values that individuals like a John McCain stood for,” mentioned Obama earlier than occurring to criticize Trump.
“When Donald Trump lies or cheats or bullies or exhibits utter disregard for our Constitution when he calls service members like John McCain losers as a result of they died in battle or have been captured … folks make excuses for it, that it’s okay as long as their aspect wins,” mentioned Obama.
McCain was taken as a prisoner of struggle in the course of the Vietnam battle and tortured. McCains’ service earned him two Purple Hearts, together with greater than a dozen different army accolades. He went on to signify the state, each within the House and the Senate, for many years.
While campaigning for president in 2015 in Ames, Iowa, Trump referred to as McCain a “loser” in reference to his defeat to Obama earlier than including, “He’s not a struggle hero… he was a struggle hero as a result of he was captured.”
Trump would go on to win Arizona in his first run for the presidency in 2016, however he would develop into the primary Republican to lose the southwest state in 2020 since Bill Clinton received it as a Democrat in 1996.
Since Trump’s disparaging remarks, a brand new voting bloc has emerged in Arizona, often called “McCain Republicans.” In 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris has tried to courtroom the McCain wing of the Republican social gathering in Arizona, complimenting him on the path.
At a marketing campaign rally in Chandler, Arizona, earlier this month, Harris recalled McCain saving the Affordable Care Act with a historic vote.
“It required yet one more vote to maintain it intact, and that vote was the late, nice John McCain,” Harris mentioned within the Phoenix suburb. “An excellent American, a struggle hero: John McCain. And I’ll always remember that night time.”
It was reward Obama repeated on Friday, because the Affordable Care Act, colloquially often called “Obamacare,” stays in impact as a consequence of McCain’s refusal to vote to repeal it.
“Donald Trump spent his total presidency making an attempt to dismantle it,” mentioned Obama.
“Thanks to John McCain, he didn’t do it,” he added to thunderous applause.