The son of the late Republican Senator John McCain – whose wartime stewardship was belittled by Donald Trump – has joined in the criticism of the former president’s controversial visit to Arlington Cemetery, accusing him of desecrating a sacred burial site for political purposes.

First Lieutenant Jimmy McCain, an intelligence officer with the National Guard’s 158th Infantry Regiment, said Trump’s behavior at the cemetery – America’s most revered burial site for fallen soldiers and war heroes – was in line with previous acts of disrespect.

He told CNN that Trump’s stance on military service had turned him away from his father’s Republican Party. He has changed his voter registration to Democratic and plans to vote for Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election.

Trump’s reputation for despising military personnel dates back to his first presidential candidacy in 2016. At the time, he declared that McCain Sr., who died in 2018, did not deserve the war hero status awarded to him because he was captured during the Vietnam War.

He later reportedly called U.S. soldiers buried in a World War I cemetery in France “suckers” and “losers” and questioned the value of the Congressional Medal of Honor, which is generally awarded for military heroism.

McCain said the change in his political views was influenced by Trump’s partisan comments about his father. “When I hear things (from Trump) like he’s a loser because he got captured – I don’t think I could ever unsee that,” he said.

But he also suggested that Trump had indeed violated the duty of fallen soldiers in last week’s episode. “Those men and women lying there in the ground have no choice,” said McCain, whose grandfather and great-grandfather are buried in Arlington.

The Republican presidential candidate faced widespread criticism and rebuke from the U.S. military after a visit to the cemetery – reportedly to mark the third anniversary of a suicide bombing that killed 13 American soldiers during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 – degenerated into a campaign photo opportunity.

Members of the Trump campaign reportedly pushed aside a cemetery worker as she tried to enforce federal regulations prohibiting the bringing of camera and film equipment into Section 60, the area of ​​the facility reserved for those killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Pictures and footage were subsequently released showing Trump smiling and giving a thumbs up while posing next to some of the families of the fallen soldiers who had invited him. In the background, the graves of other soldiers whose families had not given permission are clearly visible. Some of them have condemned the visit.

Trump defended the action and released supportive statements from relatives of six military personnel killed in the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing.

In a statement on his website Truth Social on Wednesday, he went further, accusing Democratic presidential candidate Harris of fabricating the story and claiming there was no altercation.

“There was no conflict or ‘fighting’ at Arlington National Cemetery last week,” he wrote. “It was a fabricated story by Comrade Kamala and her disinformation squad. She made it all up to cover up the fact that she and Sleepy Joe (Biden) have BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS because of the INCOMPETENT withdrawal from Afghanistan.”

But speaking to CNN, McCain suggested that Trump’s actions were due to feelings of insecurity due to his own lack of military experience.

“It was a violation,” he said. “I think anyone who has served in uniform for a long time understands that instinctively – that this is not about you. It’s about these people who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of their country.”

“Many of these men and women who have served their country chose to do something greater than themselves. They woke up one morning, signed on the dotted line, raised their right hand and chose to serve their country. And that’s an experience that Donald Trump has not had. And I think that’s something he thinks about a lot.”