Cindy McCain, the wife of the late Republican Sen. John McCain, has apologized for claiming to have stopped a child from being trafficked at an Arizona airport.
McCain told Arizona radio station KTAR News 92.3 FM this month that she advised law enforcement at a Phoenix airport in January that she had spotted a mother with a toddler “of a different ethnicity” and “it looked odd.”
“I went over to the police and told them what I saw and they went over and questioned her and, by God, she was trafficking that kid,” McCain said during the interview. She later said the woman had been waiting to meet the man who had bought the child.
But when asked for comment, Phoenix Police Sgt. Armando Carbajal told the same station officers did conduct a welfare check on Jan. 30 at the request of the 2008 Republican presidential nominee’s wife. However, Carbajal said “there was no evidence of criminal conduct or child endangerment.”
McCain, who is co-chairwoman of the Arizona Governor’s Council on Human Trafficking, apologized on Twitter for the confusion.
“At Phoenix Sky Harbor, I reported an incident that I thought was trafficking. I commend the police officers for their diligence. I apologize if anything else I have said on this matter distracts from ‘if you see something, say something,'” McCain tweeted.
At Phoenix Sky Harbor, I reported an incident that I thought was trafficking. I commend the police officers for their diligence. I apologize if anything else I have said on this matter distracts from “if you see something, say something”
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) February 7, 2019
McCain has maintained an active presence in public life since the passing of the senator in August at the age of 81 after a battle with brain cancer. She was speculated to be on the shortlist to be appointed to the Arizona U.S. Senate seat vacated by her husband and then by his eventual replacement, former Republican Sen. Jon Kyl.
