The Defense Authorization Bill for 2019 is named after Senator McCain, but not once would Trump utter his name during a speech yesterday. Just another bit of pettiness from a man who's frequently disparaged McCain and his military service, infamously saying "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured."
Jake Tapper added his take on this deliberate slight on CNN.
Source: Michael Shearer/New York Times
WASHINGTON—If U.S. President Donald Trump had wanted to make a gracious mention of John McCain, the ailing Republican senator from Arizona, he could have done it Monday, when the president signed the $716 billion (U.S.) military spending bill named in McCain’s honour.
He didn’t.
Standing in front of soldiers and senior military leaders at Fort Drum in New York, Trump made no mention of McCain, 81, who has been one of the president’s fiercest critics but has largely been absent from the Senate as he struggles with advanced brain cancer.
The president studiously avoided reading the official name of the legislation — which would have meant mentioning McCain — during the 28-minute speech or during the signing ceremony afterward. (The spending measure is officially called the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019.)
