A veterans group is planning on handing out thousands of free USS John McCain shirts during President Trump’s upcoming “Salute to America” event in Washington, D.C.
Left-leaning group VoteVets raised enough money to make more than 5,000 shirts that feature the words “USS JOHN S. MCCAIN” in bold red letters and “BIG BAD JOHN,” the nickname for the ship, in smaller blue letters. The shirt also features an image of the ship, which is named after all three generations of McCains.
“Today, we learned the news that Donald Trump is turning the national Fourth of July celebration into a 2020 campaign event, complete with a ticketed VIP section for friends and supporters,” an email from the group read. “That’s not what America is about.”
Peter Kauffman, vice chairman of VoteVets, said that concept of handing out the shirts was done to emphasize the country rather than Trump on Independence Day.
“It’s really a way to honor a family that, through multiple generations, has shown that the country is bigger than any one individual,” Kauffmann told the Huffington Post. “July 4 has never been about who is president. The idea that Donald Trump can come in and sell VIP tickets so you can get good seats while the regular old people have to stay back from the area is antithetical to the whole idea of America.”
Trump is not selling tickets, though free VIP tickets will be distributed in some way, CNN reported.
The Thursday event is planned to be massive, with Trump ordering a flyover by military aircraft, including Air Force One and possibly an F-35 stealth fighter. About 300 servicemembers are slated to participate in the event in various capacities. Furthermore, there are negotiations underway to have tanks or armored military vehicles at the event.
Trump and former Sen. John McCain, although both Republicans, were rivals prior to McCain’s death last year. Since his death Trump has continued to attack McCain, drawing criticism from both sides of the aisle.
Prior a recent presidential visit to Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, the White House Military Office directed the Navy to keep the USS John McCain “out of sight.” The incident drew further controversy and highlighted the acrimonious relationship the two had.
