Lt. Jimmy McCain, son of late Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain, rebuked former President Donald Trump’s visit to Arlington Cemetery last week and revealed that he is now a registered Democrat who plans to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The McCain scion, who has spent over 17 years in the military, lambasted Trump for a “violation,” accusing the Republican presidential candidate of using the nation’s largest cemetery as a campaign event.
“It’s a sacred area. There’s three generations of McCains that are buried there. It’s a violation,” he told CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” Tuesday. “The people who are buried there don’t have an opinion.
“When you make it political, you take away the respect of the people who are there.”
In a separate interview with CNN, Jimmy McCain, 36, underscored his disgust at the ordeal.
“It just blows me away,” he told CNN. “These men and women that are laying in the ground there have no choice” in the matter.
“I just think that for anyone who’s done a lot of time in their uniform, they just understand that inherently — that it’s not about you there. It’s about these people who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the name of their country.”
Last week, Trump visited the country’s largest national cemetery to pay tribute to the 13 US service members who were killed in Abbey Gate after an ISIS-K suicide bomber detonated an explosive in 2021 during the chaotic withdrawal from the war-torn nation.
Trump’s stop in the cemetery came during the three-year anniversary of that attack and he laid a wreath to honor the fallen. He later posed for photos with Gold Star families at the cemetery.
That sparked swift backlash. While there isn’t a ban on taking photos at Arlington Cemetery, there are restrictions against “partisan political activities” there.
An Army spokesperson blasted the Trump campaign and alleged that “ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside.”
Trump has denied accusations of a “conflict” at the cemetery.
In the late 1990s, the late Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) was forced to apologize after a campaign ad showed him walking in Arlington Cemetery in violation of that bar on political activity there.
“You don’t spend that long in politics without messing up once or twice,” his son said. “If Donald Trump pulled it down and apologized, I mean, it would be the right thing to do.”
However, citing Trump’s “history towards veterans,” the McCain scion argued that the 45th president wouldn’t “earn any points back” with him by apologizing for the ordeal.
Early on during this 2016 presidential campaign, Trump infamously bashed Sen. McCain.
“He’s a war hero because he was captured; I like people that weren’t captured,” he said.
John McCain is widely regarded as a war hero, who was captured during the Vietnam War, tortured, and turned down a chance at an early release. He later helped normalize relations with Vietnam.
Trump and the McCain family have feuded bitterly ever since.
“I’ve never forgotten it,” he reflected on that flap. “To hear those things said about him, I can never forgive.”
Jimmy McCain also revealed that several weeks ago, he switched his party affiliation from independent to Democrat, despite his family’s longstanding history with the GOP, including his father being the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.
“I was gone for a year, so I didn’t have a chance to change,” he said. “I care about my family. I care about equal rights of everyone in this country. I care about all this.
“I decided that it was time to move on.”
Not everyone in his family agrees with the move. Meghan McCain, 39, put out a statement stressing that she has no intention of voting for either Harris or Trump.
“I greatly respect the wide variety of political opinions of all of my family members and love them all very much. I however, remain a proud member of the Republican Party and hope for brighter days ahead. (Not voting for Harris or Trump, hope that clears things up),” she posted on X.
I greatly respect the wide variety of political opinions of all of my family members and love them all very much.
I however, remain a proud member of the Republican Party and hope for brighter days ahead.
(Not voting for Harris or Trump, hope that clears things up).
♥️🇺🇸
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) September 3, 2024
Jimmy McCain also told CNN that he “would get involved in any way I could” to help get Harris over the finish line come Nov. 5.
Harris and her campaign have been keen on spotlighting Republican defectors, including recently over 200 former Bush and McCain alumni who endorsed her. She’s also indicated that she’d put a Republican in her Cabinet.
