Kamala Harris honors John McCain during health care squabble in presidential debate

PHOENIX — An Arizonan political icon got an unexpected shout-out during the 2024 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Harris referred to “the late, great John McCain, who you have disparaged” while taking jabs at her Republican opponent during a conversation about health care.

“You don’t like him, you said, at the time, because he got caught. He was an American hero,” Harris, a Democrat, said of McCain, a Republican.

She was referencing comments Trump made during his first campaign in 2016. Trump had said McCain, a former prisoner of war who served Arizona in the U.S. Senate for three decades, wasn’t a war hero because he was captured.

What was the context of the John McCain mention?

Harris brought up McCain while discussing Trump’s various efforts to repeal Obamacare.

She recalled the Senate’s vote on a bill to repeal Obamacare in July 2017. McCain was the key vote on the repeal. After the vote had started, he left the Senate room for a time.

McCain eventually walked back in and held his hand up for a few seconds before putting his thumb down, confirming his vote as a no.

“The late, great John McCain — I will never forget that night — walked onto the Senate floor and said ‘No, you don’t,'” Harris recalled. “‘No, you don’t. No, you don’t get rid of the Affordable Care Act. You have no plan.'”

In September 2017, Trump called McCain’s vote against the bill “a tremendous slap to the face of the Republican Party.”

Trump mentions McCain during 2024 presidential debate against Harris

Trump didn’t respond to Harris’ mention of his well-documented dislike for McCain.

However, he responded to her comment mentioning McCain’s vote to save the Affordable Care Act.

“She made a mistake,” Trump said of Harris. “Number one, John McCain fought Obamacare for 10 years. But it wasn’t only him.”

He then pivoted to saying his health care policies would be “much better than Obamacare.” He didn’t provide details on what those policies would look like. Instead, he critiqued Harris’ policies.

The brief McCain mention earned an enthusiastic tweet from the late senator’s daughter.

McCain shoutout!! #Debate2024

— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) September 11, 2024

Meghan McCain, a political commentator, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show last week she sees Harris and Trump “garbage candidates” in a “garbage election.”

More campaign stops in Arizona after 2024 presidential debate

Trump is set to make a speech at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall in Tucson around 2 p.m. on Thursday.

That same day, Harris’ husband, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, will campaign for his wife in Tucson, although it’s not clear exactly where or when he will speak.