The incident involving Donald Trump's campaign staff at Arlington National Cemetery was the last straw for Jimmy McCain, the youngest son of the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
In an interview Tuesday on CNN, McCain said that after last week's events at the cemetery, he registered as a Democrat and decided to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris this fall.
McCain, who recently returned from deployment at a military base in Jordan where three Army Reserve soldiers were killed in January, said he changed his party affiliation to honor his father and put "country first."
"I care about my family. I care about equal rights of everyone in this country. I care about all this," McCain said. "As much as I stayed as an independent, I decided that, you know, it was time to move on and do what I believe in."
McCain called Arlington National Cemetery “sacred” and said three generations of his family are buried there. He called Trump’s incident at Arlington a “violation.”
Trump visited the cemetery last week with relatives of the service members who were killed in the Abbey Gate attack on Kabul airport during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago. According to the Army, a member of Trump’s team “abruptly pushed aside” a cemetery official so that campaign staff could take photos and videos in an area where they are normally prohibited. Trump’s team has disputed the Army’s account.
“Arlington Cemetery is to go and show respect for the men and women who have given their lives to this country,” McCain said. “When you make it political, you take away the respect of the people who are there.”
McCain also said that he has never forgiven Trump for calling his dad a "dummy" and saying that he was "not a war hero" because he had been held captive.
"He’s not a war hero," Trump said in 2015 comments. "He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured."
Trump, who never served in the military, then said: "He's a war hero because he was captured. OK, I believe — perhaps he's a war hero."
John McCain was tortured and spent 5½ years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
In response to McCain's remarks on CNN, Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that "there has been no greater advocate" for the military than Trump.
“President Trump rebuilt the military after eight years of decline under Obama/Biden, secured the largest pay raise for our troops in a decade, and became the first leader since Ronald Reagan not to start a new war and put our troops in harm’s way," she said.
Trump has repeatedly disparaged John McCain over the years, even after the Arizona senator's death in 2018.
John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, wrote on X on Tuesday that she remains a Republican, but will not be voting for Trump or Harris in November.
"I greatly respect the wide variety of political opinions of all of my family members and love them all very much," Meghan McCain wrote. "I however, remain a proud member of the Republican Party and hope for brighter days ahead."
The Harris campaign promoted McCain’s endorsement of the vice president Tuesday in news releases and social media.
