Political commentator Ana Navarro has said John McCain would get some satisfaction from knowing that he is still haunting Donald Trump as the president continues to attack the late Arizona senator more than six months after his death.
Navarro is one of a number of people, including members of McCain's family, who have expressed their outrage at the president after he revived his feud with the senator over his link to the Christopher Steele dossier about Trump's alleged Russia connections and his vote against repealing Obamacare.
"Spreading the fake and totally discredited Dossier 'is unfortunately a very dark stain against John McCain.' Ken Starr, Former Independent Counsel," Trump tweeted on March 16. "He had far worse 'stains' than this, including thumbs down on repeal and replace after years of campaigning to repeal and replace!"
In a separate tweet over the weekend, Trump inaccurately referred to McCain as being "last in his class" at the U.S. Naval Academy while falsely claiming he had shared the disputed 2016 dossier with the media.
"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 tweeted.
Navarro told CNN's Anderson Cooper, "I think John McCain, who had a wicked sense of humor, would actually enjoy knowing that he is still living inside of Trump's head and would get some sort of satisfaction from knowing that even after death he is still haunting Donald Trump."
The remark is similar to a tweet sent by the senator's daughter Meghan McCain attacking Trump over his "last in his class" comment. "My father lives rent free in your head," she wrote before deleting the post.
Navarro went on to describe how McCain, a GOP presidential candidate in two elections, was "everything Donald Trump is not."
"A man who started serving his country since the age of 17; a man who sacrificed; a man who suffered greatly while Donald Trump was inventing bone spurs. He was a man who believed in a cause greater than himself; he was a man who believed in putting America first. Donald Trump believes in putting Donald Trump first," Navarro said.
Speaking to a fellow CNN guest-panel speaker, GOP strategist Adolfo Franco, Navarro said it is vital that he and others condemn the president for the continuing attacks against "our dead friend, a dead statesman, a national hero."
"We cannot normalize and we cannot accept this kind of behavior from Donald Trump, from the president of the United States, from the commander in chief, while McCain's sons are still serving under his command," Navarro said.
"It is abominable, it is inhumane, it is indecent, it is immoral, and everybody should condemn it.… He is attacking a national hero, and that is plain disgusting."
Navarro's comments came after the senator's widow, Cindy McCain, shared a Twitter message that was privately sent to her. It read: "Your husband was a traitorous piece of warmongering s**t and I'm glad he's dead."
Cindy McCain said, "I want to make sure all of you could see how kind and loving a stranger can be," tweeting a screen grab of the message.
Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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