President Trump repeatedly refused to answer questions about the late Sen. John McCain Monday afternoon.
On two separate occasions Monday, the president dodged questions from reporters about his thoughts on the life and legacy McCain.
After a phone call between the president and Mexican President Pena Nieto Monday, the president declined to answer questions about the Arizona Republican’s legacy, choosing instead to sit silently as the press pool was directed out of the Oval Office.
Pres Trump declined to answer questions at the end of the announcement. Was asked to reflect on the legacy of Sen. McCain, but declined. Sat silent and cross-armed as press pool herded out of the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/Yzmqnxq14M
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) August 27, 2018
During a brief Oval Office pool spray following a meeting between the president and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta hours later, the president avoided a number of questions about McCain.
“Mr. President, do you have any thoughts on John McCain? Do you have any thoughts at all about John McCain? Do you believe John McCain was a hero, sir? Nothing at all about John McCain? OK,” a reporter asked the president. Trump did not respond or acknowledge the inquiries.
“Why won’t you say anything about John McCain?”@jonkarl asked Pres. Trump ten times today to comment on Senator John McCain, who passed away this weekend at age 81. The president did not respond. https://t.co/HebITj8csN pic.twitter.com/iwKYhGRaNj
— ABC News (@ABC) August 27, 2018
McCain died at his home in Arizona Saturday. The 81-year-old senator ultimately succumbed to an aggressive battle with glioblastoma, a highly malignant form of brain cancer.
The White House did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment about whether or not the president plans to attend McCain’s funeral or visit McCain’s casket at the Capitol later this week.
Shortly after news of McCain’s death surfaced Saturday, the president tweeted out a small statement offering his condolences to the McCain family and ordered that American flags be lowered to half-staff to honor the life of late senator.
My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2018
“My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!” the president tweeted Saturday evening.
The president’s tweet Saturday, along with ordering the flag at half-staff, are the only public gestures he has offered since the McCains announced the senator was diagnosed with cancer last year. Since Saturday, the president has remained quiet.
Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama offered up praise after the McCains announced Friday that the senator was discontinuing medical treatment, but Trump was, notably, silent.
Privately, senior White House officials reportedly lobbied the president to issue a formal statement praising McCain for his military service, including language that labeled McCain a “war hero.” Press secretary Sarah Sanders, White House chief of staff John Kelly, and other White House aides reportedly advocated for the statement, but the president turned it down in favor of issuing a tweet.
McCain took a final shot at Trump in his farewell statement to the nation by saying Americans shouldn’t hide behind walls — an allusion to the president’s long-promised border wall along the southern U.S.-Mexico border.
“We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe,” McCain said in a statement released by his staff Monday. “We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.”
McCain’s final message to the nation is to not despair in our “present difficulties,” but to remember the promise of America.
