Sen. John McCain on Thursday urged Donald Trump not to forget about the NATO troops who died fighting after the U.S. was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.
Asked about the presidential race for 2016, McCain couldn’t say definitively if he agreed with the presumptive GOP nominee on some issues because “sometimes he makes contradictory statements.”
The Arizona Republican did, however, say that he agrees with Trump’s proposal that NATO allies should pay more.
At the same time, he said the U.S. should “show some appreciation” for how NATO allies came to the country’s aid when the U.S. — not Europe — was attacked.
“All those European countries came to our aid and sent troops to Afghanistan. Over 1,000 of those troops, non-American, were killed,” he said. “Maybe we ought to also show some appreciation for what our NATO allies did for us.”
Trump has criticized NATO allies for not investing enough in their own defense, reportedly saying that the U.S. should “let these countries defend themselves” if they don’t pay more.
