John McCain’s son agrees with Harris, condemning Trump’s visit to the cemetery

Jimmy McCain, son of the late Republican Senator John McCain, is promoting Vice President Kamala Harris following the controversy over Donald Trump’s recent visit to Arlington National Cemetery.

He called Trump’s visit last week to a military funeral a “violation”.

The trooper accused a Trump staffer of pushing aside an Arlington staffer as they tried to warn his team about laws against filming at cemeteries.

The Trump campaign says it has received permission from the families of fallen service members to film a video during a ceremony honoring American soldiers killed during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

“Show respect and leave. It doesn’t need to be videotaped,” Mr. McCain told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday.

He continued: “The purpose of Arlington Cemetery is to show respect to the men and women who gave their lives in this country. If you make it political, you take away respect from the people who are there.”

Mr. McCain, who was previously an independent, said he has changed his voting registration to Democratic and plans to vote for Ms. Harris for president in November.

“I feel that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are putting together a group of people that will help make this country better. That will move us forward. That’s what matters at the end of the day,” he said.

McCain’s youngest son enlisted in the Marine Corps and served as an intelligence officer from 2022.

Three generations of the McCain family are buried in Arlington.

Federal law prohibits use of the site for political campaigns.

Trump’s campaign objected to the ceremony at the cemetery and issued a statement to the families of the Gold Star soldiers who invited him to the site, saying that the former president was there to honor the sacrifice of their slain relatives.

Trump – who is running for the presidency for a third term – and the late Sen. McCain had a long rivalry.

The Vietnam war hero was one of Trump’s most vocal Republican critics from the start of his first election.

Trump once attacked McCain, who was also a former Republican president, saying he was “not a war hero” because he was captured and held as a prisoner of war.

Jimmy McCain is not the only family member who says they are not voting for Trump.

Her sister Meghan said on Monday she did not plan to support Trump or Ms Harris.

“I have great respect for the various political opinions of all my family members and I love them very much,” X wrote, previously on Twitter.

“However, I remain a proud member of the Republican Party and look forward to brighter days ahead.”