President Donald Trump held tight to comments already made regarding his continuing feud with deceased Senator John McCain, saying he talks about it because the media continues to ask him about it.
During an interview with Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo, the president spoke candidly about the controversy when Bartiromoro referred to statements Trump made during a visit to a tank factory in Lima, Ohio, on Wednesday.
"You spent a good portion of your time in Ohio the other day trashing John McCain. Senator John McCain is dead. Why are you doing this?" the media personality asked.
"It's not a good portion of my time, it's a very small portion," Trump replied, going on to cite his belief that McCain had a senior aide provide a dossier compiled by British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to the FBI. "[The dossier] was a fake, it was a fraud, it was paid for by Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. They gave it to John McCain, who gave it to the FBI for very evil purposes."
Trump had previously tweeted about McCain's connection to the dossier, referring to a Fox News interview with Ken Starr, who stated that someone in McCain's office had shared some of the dossier with members of the media.
"So it was indeed (just proven in court papers) 'last in his class' (Annapolis) John McCain that sent the Fake Dossier to the FBI and Media hoping to have it printed BEFORE the Election. He & the Dems, working together, failed (as usual). Even the Fake News refused this garbage," Trump posted to Twitter on Sunday.
According to The Associated Press, McCain did not turn the dossier over to James Comey, who was then FBI director, until December 2016, a month after Trump had been elected. Additionally, the FBI had information obtained from Steele's research before the 2016 presidential election.
Trump again mentioned McCain's vote against repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, in 2017. "He had been campaigning for years for repeal and replace," the president said. "I'm not a fan. After all of this time, he's been thinking this. Repeal and replace. We would have had great health care."
"But Mr. President, he's dead," Bartiromoro interjected. "He can't punch back. I know you punch back, but he's dead."
"No, I don't talk about it, people asked me the question," the president replied. "I didn't bring this up, you just brought it up. You asked the question. When I went out yesterday to the scrum, they asked me the question. When they ask me the question, I answer the question. But you people bring it up, I don't bring it up.
"I'm not a fan," Trump continued. "He was horrible what he did with repeal and replace. What he did to the Republican Party and the nation and to sick people who could have had great health care was not good. So I'm not a fan of John McCain and that's fine."
Trump's accusation that McCain campaigned against the ACA was true, as the senator spoke of repealing the law while running for Senate in 2016.
"I voted for the motion to proceed to allow debate to continue and amendments to be offered. I will not vote for the bill as it is today. It's a shell of a bill right now. We all know that." McCain said. Two days later, in a dramatic moment, the Arizona senator voted against the repeal.
According to CNN, Trump said in the Oval Office onTuesday that McCain "told us, hours before [the vote], that he was going to repeal and replace." A former aide to the senator denied such a conversation took place, citing McCain's speech before the vote was held.
Trump's full interview with Bartiromo will air at 6 a.m. ET Friday.
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