Sen. McSally has private talk with President Trump about McCain

PHOENIX – U.S. Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona said Thursday she had spoken with President Donald Trump about his recent comments attacking John McCain.

“I wanted to make sure he understood how I felt about Sen. McCain and how Arizona felt about Sen. John McCain. And he heard me,” the freshman senator said of a private conversation Wednesday with the president.

McSally visited the Valley, making a stop at Luke Air Force Base near Glendale.

“This state reveres John McCain,” McSally said.

Trump has spent the past week tweeting criticisms and making negative remarks in public about McCain, who died seven months ago of brain cancer.

He again blamed McCain for the failed repeal of Obamacare, said he “never liked him much,” and Friday told Fox Business, “I’m not a fan of John McCain and that’s fine.”

McSally, a Trump supporter who was appointed to replace McCain by Gov. Doug Ducey in December, had already gone on social media to express her admiration for her predecessor.

John McCain is an American hero and I am thankful for his life of service and legacy to our country and Arizona. Everyone should give him and his family the respect, admiration, and peace they deserve.

— Martha McSally (@SenMcSallyAZ) March 20, 2019

“There is a lot of disrespect going on out there all the way around,” McSally said at the air base. McCain’s daughter, Meghan denounced Trump this week on “The View,” the TV talk show she co-hosts.

Ducey said Friday on KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News, “I don’t understand it. I don’t know why he continues to do it.”

The two-term governor, a self-described “fan of John McCain,” said he won’t be reaching out to the White House to plead a case for an end to the insults.

“I don’t want to amplify this situation — I want to talk about the senator’s service and his example that he’s set for all in elected life,” Ducey said.

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