Trump again went after John McCain on Twitter for a second day on Sunday, citing court papers purportedly showing that the never-Trump Republican senator had a bigger than previously thought role spreading the since-discredited Steele dossier to US intelligence services and the media.
"So it was indeed (just proven in court papers) 'last in his class' (Annapolis) John McCain that sent the Fake Dossier to the FBI and Media hoping to have it printed BEFORE the Election," Trump wrote.
"He & the Dems, working together, failed (as usual). Even the Fake News refused this garbage!" he added.
Trump's remarks were his second attack against the late Senator — who died of cancer-related complications last year — in less than 24 hours, with Trump earlier accusing McCain of multiple "stains" on his record, including "spreading the fake and totally discredited" Steele dossier and his "thumbs down on [the] repeal and replace" healthcare bill in the Senate.
Trump's initial reaction to the story prompted McCain's daughter Meghan to respond, with The View co-host telling the president that "no one will ever love you the way they loved my father" and asking him to "maybe spend [your Saturdays] with your family instead of on twitter obsessing over mine?"
Trump's Sunday Twitter attack on the former senator prompted an explosion of comments online, with social media users predictably dividing along anti-Trump pro-Trump lines to attack their opponents.
The Steele Dossier's accusations, which include salacious claims about Trump's alleged sexual kinks, remain unsubstantiated despite over two years of investigation by US intelligence agencies, Congress and the US media. Trump has repeatedly described the dossier as a "pile of garbage." The document was written by former British spy Christopher Steele after he was contracted by opposition research firm Fusion GPS, with the dossier funded by multiple actors, including the Democratic National Committee and billionaire George Soros.