Some in the news media are apparently in need of a reminder that John McCain is dead and the Senate seat he once held does not belong to his family or his memory.
After Sen. Martha McSally, a Republican from Arizona, brushed off eager CNN reporter Manu Raju who had approached her with a question on Capitol Hill, Jake Tapper, also of CNN, thought it important to check in with the royal family of Arizona.
“Given that McSally was appointed to serve [out] the remainder of Sen John McCain’s term, I asked a member of the family for thoughts on McSally’s comments today,” Tapper wrote. “The response was ‘There’s no love lost between our family and her.’”
Given that McSally was appointed to serve our the remainder of Sen John McCain’s term, I asked a member of the family for thoughts on McSally’s comments today.
The response was “There’s no love lost between our family and her.” https://t.co/PvbWFdATCM
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 16, 2020
Got ‘em, Jake!
What, exactly, is the pertinence of any unnamed McCain family member and their thoughts on McSally or whether they love her or whether they approve of her conduct toward a CNN reporter she doesn’t like?
Tapper wasn’t the only one to invoke McCain’s ghost.
Chris Cuomo that night on CNN was indignant, saying McSally “bears no resemblance to McCain’s dignity, decency, discretion. I can’t believe people would vote for her to fill McCain’s seat.”
NBC’s Heidi Przybyla added the helpful context that McSally “was appointed to the seat of the deceased Sen. John McCain, known for his playful, sometimes testy, but always respectful engagement with the Washington media.”
McSally was appointed to the seat of the deceased Sen. John McCain, known for his playful, sometimes testy, but always respectful engagement with the Washington media. https://t.co/LIMuzMst4w
— Heidi Przybyla (@HeidiNBC) January 16, 2020
Ah, yes. Remember the days when McCain would play with the press, lose a presidential election, play with the press, lose another presidential election, play with the press, call President Trump’s supporters “crazies,” and then play with the press some more?
Those were the days; much nicer than when McSally called a reporter she doesn’t like a “liberal hack.”
Without weighing in on whether the CNN reporter in question is in fact a “liberal hack,” it is worth nothing that McSally has plenty of reason not to want to speak with him. Raju was the lead author on a story CNN wrote alleging that Don Trump Jr. was aware of the stolen Democratic emails that WikiLeaks published in 2016 before they were made public. (It wasn’t true.)
The Senate seat currently occupied by McSally isn’t a shrine to McCain, and maybe now the media recognize that it’s not held right now by someone who wants to play.
