The New York Times has informed that the plan for Senator McCain’s funeral doesn’t include US President Donald Trump’s attendance. People close to McCain have informed the White House that Vice President Mike Pence is to pay final respects on behalf of the White House instead. The ceremony will be held in Washington’s National Cathedral.
McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer, or glioblastoma, in 2017 amid heated debates about replacing Obamacare. Later he told CBS News in an interview that doctors had told him that there was only a 14% chance that his treatment would yield a successful outcome. The senator was reportedly released from hospital last week in stable condition after undergoing surgery for an infection.
A well-known 'maverick' of GOP politics, John McCain, has held his US Senate seat, representing Arizona, since 1987. He launched a presidential campaign in 2000, ultimately losing the Republican nomination to George W. Bush. His party nominated him when he ran again in 2008, but he was defeated by Barack Obama.
Even in the memoir “The Restless Wave,” McCain refers to as his last book, which is to be released this month, the politician slams Trump for his stance on refugee policy and fake news.
“He seems uninterested in the moral character of world leaders and their regimes. The appearance of toughness or a reality show facsimile of toughness seems to matter more than any of our values. Flattery secures his friendship, criticism his enmity,” the passage on Trump reads, according to the New York Times.
Uneasiness between the two has been intensifying since 2016, when Donald Trump attacked McCain, one of the country's most well-known Vietnam prisoners of war, saying that he was considered a hero only "because he was captured." Then candidate Trump added “I like people who weren’t captured.”
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Twitter comments point out that the conflict between the two is evidence of a crisis in the GOP.
Some stress that this is just another big moment, Trump isn’t welcomed at.
Others just praise McCain for his decision.
Some have found the move trivial.