Politics - News Analysis

Lindsey Graham Implies that John McCain Would Prefer Donald Trump Over Joe Biden

With one thumb down, John McCain devastated the entire Trump first term.

Trump and the Republicans owned the House and the Senate (Barely) during Trump’s first term. With McConnell doing away with many of the Senate rules regarding bringing votes to the floor, the GOP had a chance to end Obamacare entirely. It had been their raison d’etre for eight years, the big white whale, the program that proved government could work, bringing affordable health insurance to millions. The GOP hated it and not just because it passed under Obama but because the last thing they wanted was for the government to “work.” People might expect it to work again, and again, and work for the right people, not just the top 1%.

They had to end Obamacare, they’d tried everything else, the courts, 687 House votes, everything.

It all came to a head one evening in the Senate a vote in which the GOP had their shot to end it for good. John McCain knew he was dying, indeed the world knew and one could see it. He made a dramatic appearance in the Senate. He was surrounded by Senators from both parties, not saying it’s “great to see you” but arguing that they needed his vote. After a long vote, and the matter coming down to John McCain, he gave the thumbs down.

We would like to think that McCain’s illness played a role in his decision. Cancer patients meet other cancer patients when they undergo treatment (McCain’s was incurable but they can slow it down). When one has cancer, a senator is the same as the guy who picks up the Senator’s trash. We would love to think that McCain had a change of heart. We cannot know. But we do know that he knew that his vote would infuriate Donald Trump. The two men hated each other. Hate is a strong word and should be used sparingly. Donald Trump hated John McCain and McCain hated Donald Trump. Trump likely hated McCain for two reasons, McCain was a war hero who showed genuine courage of the type very few among us could take, and McCain lost to Obama – something Trump likely found to be unforgiveale. McCain hated Trump for the same reason everyone hates Trump but the other stuff didn’t help.

McCain was Lindsey Graham’s mentor. As we’ve noted before, way back then, there was genuine affection for Graham among just about everyone on Capitol Hill. He was a decent guy and his lifestyle was “different” than that of most conservative Republicans. Everyone felt a bit of a responsibility to protect him, pols and staff. Trust us, there was a time when Democrats genuinely respected Graham, while he was under McCain’s wing. Joe Biden was one of those Democrats. Graham teared up describing Joe Biden as a good man, on camera.

We may eventually find out what happened with Graham and Trump. We worry it is very very dark but maybe not. We cannot know.

What we can know is that Cindy McCain and Meghan McCain knew John McCain even better than Lindsey and to this day they hate Donald Trump, and they do even though Meghan is a MAGA through and through (except for Trump hatred).

This comment comes from back in April – we missed it amidst an incredibly busy news week, and have been holding this clip for a weekend because it just shows how far Lindsey’s fallen. In this clip, Lindsey ever so carefully lets slip that John McCain would prefer Trump over Biden, at least with respect to containing China. We do not believe this to be true. China didn’t suddenly become our “enemy” over four very particular years, 2016 to 2020. They were adversaries but also necessary trade partners.

Our real adversaries were the Russians and North Koreans. The Russians were busy meddling in our elections, invading the Ukraine, getting kicked out of the G-8, and funding Right-Wing. China wasn’t the nation that hacked the shit out of the U.S. government in 2020, that was Russia. But guess which country benefits most if Americans see China as our primary adversary in the world? That would be Russia. John McCain did not trust the Russians.

This is just absurd, within the clip below, Graham basically says that McCain would prefer Trump’s approach to China over Biden. We doubt it. We also don’t think McCain would wrap Putin in his arms in a long embrace:

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak

meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

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