Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) does not regret calling Code Pink protesters “lowlife scum” before the start of the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday for “physically threatening” former secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger.
“These people were physically threatening Henry Kissinger,” McCain told CNN Sunday. “I’m used to people popping up at these hearings and yelling and they’re escorted out — that’s at least some version of free speech. These people rushed up. They were right next to Henry Kissinger, waving handcuffs up.”
“He’s a 91-year-old man with a broken shoulder who was willing to come down and testify before Congress to give us the benefit of his many years of wisdom,” the Arizona senator continued. “Of course I was outraged and I am still outraged. It’s one thing to stand up and protest; it’s something else to physically threaten an individual, particularly an individual who has served so much to his country whether you agree or not.”
McCain commended Kissinger for his work, labeling him “one of the great statesmen of my lifetime or maybe the whole 20th century.”
When asked specifically about his word choice during his confrontation with the protesters, McCain insisted, “I think they’re terrible people.”
“They literally surrounded him and were physically in such proximity to him that he was in danger of being harmed,” McCain added.
After the protesters surrounded Kissinger Thursday prior to the hearing and shouted “Arrest Henry Kissinger for war crimes,” McCain, who chairs the committee, threatened to have them arrested.
“I have never seen anything as disgraceful and outrageous and despicable as the last demonstration that just took place,” he told the protesters. “You know, you’re going to have to shut up, or I’m going to have you arrested. If we can’t get the Capitol Hill police in here immediately — get out of here you lowlife scum.”
