- John McCain was the Republican nominee during the 2008 Presidential campaign, going up against Barack Obama
- The Arizona Senator would not entertain the ‘birther’ rhetoric that had been propagated around Obama by people such as Donald Trump
- The video of McCain cutting off an audience member’s conspiracy theory at a Town Hall in 2008 has garnered over 16m views in the last week
John McCain may never have won a Presidential election like Donald Trump has. In fact, the late Arizona Senator actually lost quite heavily to Barack Obama during the 2008 election. But the way in which the campaign was conducted has become the subject of much attention online over the last week.
At a time where American politics is overspilling with intense hatred and marginalised groups feel more threatened than ever, it has become difficult to remember an era in which Presidential candidates could discuss their opposition without feeling the need to resort to name calling, flat out lying or spreading conspiracy theories about them.
This is not some dewy eyed, rose tinted nostalgia trip back to the late ’00s, either. But when a user on X shared a video of John McCain cutting off an audience member who was attempting to repeat false ‘birther’ claims about Barack Obama – a conspiracy theory about the former President’s heritage – it hammered home just how toxic and extreme modern politics have become in the United States.
The video, which has generated over 16 million views since it was posted and over 230,000 likes, shows McCain not wanting to dedicate a second more to the woman’s attempt at spreading falsehoods about Barack Obama’s nationality and religion – lies which were propagated by incoming President Donald Trump (which Obama famously hit back at during the 2011 White House correspondents’ dinner)
“No ma’am,” McCain begins as he pulls the microphone away from the woman in the audience, who had incorrectly labeled Obama an ‘Arab’ and a ‘Muslim’, as if to insinuate that the then Presidential candidate was not truly American.
“He’s a decent family man. A citizen, who I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that is what this campaign is all about.”
It is impossible to imagine this level of civility occurring in modern day American politics, yet the video of McCain’s Town Hall appearance is from less than 20 years ago. By 2016 we were firmly entrenched in the neverending, psychotic cartoon circus we find ourselves in, still, eight years later and likely will do for a long time to come.
McCain would be critical of Obama in the years after his election loss, blaming the former President for the mass shooting at Orlando nightclub Pulse, in June 2016, stating, “When he pulled everybody out of Iraq, al-Qaeda went to Syria, became ISIS, and ISIS is what it is today thanks to Barack Obama’s failures.” Omar Mateen, who carried out the shooting, which killed 49 people and wounded 53 more, had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State and claimed that the US killing of Abu Waheeb in Iraq a month earlier had led to the shooting occuring in retaliation.
McCain did not enjoy a close relationship with Donald Trump, before or during his initial Presidency, although he did initially back Trump as the Republican candidate in the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton. The former Arizona Senator would withdraw his public support, however, just before the 2016 election, when the Access Hollywood story broke, leaking the infamous audio of Trump boasting about sexually assaulting women in 2005, with the phrase “you can do anything, grab ’em by the p***y.”
However, despite this, McCain supported some Trump policies and actions during his first term in office, although he did famously vote against Republican Party lines, voting against the 2017 repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
John McCain also reportedly requested that Trump not attend his funeral, shortly before he passed away from an aggressive form of brain cancer, in 2018.
