Report: Trump Rejected White House’s Original Statement On John McCain’s Passing

People were fairly disillusioned by President Trump’s tweet on John McCain’s passing.

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

That was it. As you can see, the word “hero” wasn’t included. His tweet was more about extending thoughts and prayers to McCain’s family. I’m really not surprised. There was no doubt that the two had a contentious relationship. Word even has it McCain said he didn’t want Trump at his funeral. Remember that?

Still, Trump has critics. But here’s the thing: Even if he released a flurry of tweets honoring McCain and his legacy, people would’ve accused him of being a fake liar. That brings me to this.

According to a report from the Washington Post, President Trump rejected a prepared a more thoughtful White House statement on John McCain’s passing.

President Trump nixed issuing a statement that praised the heroism and life of Sen. John McCain, telling senior aides he preferred to issue a tweet before posting one Saturday night that did not include any kind words for the late Arizona Republican.

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and other White House aides advocated for an official statement that gave the decorated Vietnam War POW plaudits for his military and Senate service and called him a “hero,” according to current and former White House aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations. The original statement was drafted before McCain died Saturday, and Sanders and others edited a final version this weekend that was ready for the president, the aides said.

But Trump told aides he wanted to post a brief tweet instead, and the statement praising McCain’s life was not released.

It sounds like Trump didn’t want to pretend, which is fine, but the White House still should’ve put out SOME sort of official statement. Like him or not, McCain was a significant figure.

Trump told aides before McCain’s death that he should have stepped down from his seat as the senator battled cancer. Trump also told friends that he was betrayed by McCain, who he felt he had supported politically.

“Initially, Donald liked McCain. Back in the 2008 election, he said to me that he thought the Republicans needed someone like McCain — something different,” said Chris Ruddy, a longtime Trump friend. “He said that he was a maverick who was doing different stuff.”

I agree with the other statement– he should’ve stepped down. But at this point, it is what it is. All of it.