PHOENIX – An Arizona political icon received an unexpected mention during the 2024 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Harris referred to “the late, great John McCain, whom you disparaged” while lashing out at her Republican opponent in a conversation about health care reform.
“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 referring to statements made by Trump during his first election campaign in 2016. Trump had said at the time that McCain, a former prisoner of war who served in the U.S. Senate from the state of Arizona for three decades, was not a war hero because he had been captured.
In what context was John McCain mentioned?
Harris mentioned McCain when she discussed Trump’s various efforts to repeal Obamacare.
She recalled the Senate vote on a bill to repeal Obamacare in July 2017. McCain was the deciding vote in the repeal. After the vote began, he left the Senate chamber for a while.
Finally, McCain came back in, held his hand up for a few seconds, then lowered his thumb to confirm his no vote.
“The late, great John McCain – I’ll never forget that night – walked into the Senate chamber and said, ‘No, you’re not doing that,'” Harris recalled. “‘No, you’re not doing that. No, you’re not going to repeal the Affordable Care Act. You don’t have a plan.'”
In September 2017, Trump called McCain’s vote against the bill “a tremendous slap in the face of the Republican Party.”
Trump mentions McCain during 2024 presidential debate against Harris
Trump did not respond to Harris’ mention of his well-documented dislike of McCain.
However, he responded to her comment and mentioned McCain’s vote to save the Affordable Care Act.
“She made a mistake,” Trump said of Harris. “First of all, John McCain fought against Obamacare for ten years. But he wasn’t the only one.”
Then he changed course and said that his health care policy was “much better than Obamacare.” He did not reveal what this policy would look like in detail. Instead, he criticized Harris’ policies.
The brief mention of McCain triggered an enthusiastic tweet from the late senator’s daughter.
Shoutout to McCain!! #Debate2024
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) 11 September 2024
Meghan McCain, a political commentator, said The Mike Broomhead Show from KTAR News 92.3 FM last week she called Harris and Trump “garbage candidates” in a “garbage election.”
More campaign stops in Arizona after the 2024 presidential debate
Trump is scheduled to give a speech at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall in Tucson on Thursday at around 2 p.m.
On the same day, Harris’ husband, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, will campaign for his wife in Tucson, although it is not clear where or when exactly he will speak.
