As Election Day approaches, the number of Republicans coming out against former President Donald Trump continues to grow. Jimmy McCain, the son of late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, has publicly announced that he will vote for Vice President Kamala Harris after one of Trump’s latest political stunts.
Jimmy McCain endorses Kamala Harris for president
Jimmy McCain, the youngest son of the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, told CNN on Tuesday that he supports Harris in the 2024 presidential election. McCain, formerly an independent, said he registered as a Democrat and decided to support Harris weeks ago. But 1st Lt. McCain, who has been in the military for 17 years and became a commissioned officer in Army intelligence in 2022, decided to go public with his support for Harris after Trump staged a campaign event while visiting Arlington National Cemetery with families of soldiers killed during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Continued fallout from Trump campaign’s use of Arlington
Trump stirred controversy by breaking federal law and cemetery rules by filming in the section reserved for casualties of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Furthermore, a member of Trump’s staff got into a physical altercation with an Arlington employee who tried to enforce the no-filming policy, and Trump’s team has since insulted staff members. McCain told CNN that “it just blows me away” that Trump would use Arlington as the setting for a campaign advertisement, adding that the people buried at the cemetery — including members of McCain’s family — “have no choice” in being used for political purposes.
McCain family’s history with Trump
The McCains and Trump have a history of animosity. In 2015, Trump denigrated the military service of McCain, who was wounded and captured by enemy forces during the Vietnam War.
“He’s not a war hero,” Trump said of Sen. McCain. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
In 2017, McCain dramatically gave a thumbs down as he cast the deciding vote to save the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, as Trump and his allies attempted to repeal it.
In 2019, less than a year after McCain’s death, Trump reiterated his dislike for McCain, saying, “I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be.”
Since then, McCain’s widow, diplomat and World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain, endorsed Joe Biden for president in 2020, and their daughter, political commentator Meghan McCain, has been critical of Trump but unwilling to endorse Harris. On Tuesday, she tweeted that she’s not voting for Harris or Trump.
However, Jimmy McCain’s endorsement of Harris adds to the growing list of former Republicans and conservative figures siding with her against Trump. As the Harris and Trump campaigns compete for voters, even more cross-party defections are likely to become public.
