McCain in new book: Trump more interested in appearing tough than values
In a new memoir Senator John McCain openly criticizes US President Donald Trump saying he seems to care more about “the appearance of toughness” than the so-called American values.
"The appearance of toughness, or a reality show facsimile of toughness, seems to matter more than any of our values," he says in the memoir referring to Trump.
“He has declined to distinguish the actions of our government from the crimes of despotic ones,” McCain writes of Trump.
In excerpts of his book, The Restless Wave that will be published by Simon & Schuster on May 22, the senior senator from the state of Arizona says his battle with brain cancer has given him a sense of liberation to freely speak his mind.
“I’m freer than colleagues who will face the voters again. I can speak my mind without fearing the consequences much. And I can vote my conscience without worry.”
“I don’t think I’m free to disregard my constituents’ wishes, far from it. I don’t feel excused from keeping pledges I made. Nor do I wish to harm my party’s prospects. But I do feel a pressing responsibility to give Americans my best judgment,” McCain says in the excerpts released Monday by Apple News.
McCain, a Vietnam War prisoner, says he is bothered by the "scarcity of humility" in the current political climate in America.
"I suspect it's never been in abundant supply in most human enterprises – and I don't mean modesty. Any politician worth a damn can fake modesty.”
"Humility is the self-knowledge that you possess as much inherent dignity as anyone else, and not one bit more. Among its other virtues, humility makes for more productive politics," he further writes.
A bumpy relationship
McCain and Trump have had a rocky relationship since the early stages of the 2016 US presidential election.
Trump once derided McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent more than five years in a North Vietnamese prison, saying he wasn’t a war hero, “because he was captured.”
Last year, McCain cast a deciding vote against a GOP effort to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, prompting repeated recriminations of McCain by Trump.
The former GOP presidential nominee in the 2008 presidential race against former president Barack Obama has spoken out about Trump before — he said during an interview last year that he does not think Trump has any "principles and beliefs."
Pro-Gaza protesters in NY's Columbia University stay put despite intimidation, crackdown
Arrest and harassment: US intensifies crackdown on pro-Gaza protests in universities
US Senate reauthorizes surveillance bill despite privacy concerns
Region to benefit from Iran-Sri Lanka cooperation: Raeisi
Iran dismisses US allegation of ‘malicious cyber activity’
Calls grow for probe into mass graves Israeli forces left in Gaza
VIDEO | From shadow to spotlight
Iran, Pakistan urge UNSC to hold Israel accountable for atrocities
VIDEO | Negotiations stalled
Israeli settlers – protected by military – intrude into Al-Aqsa Mosque
VIDEO | Smirking at lies
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
