Thursday is National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day, and the White House released a statement honoring those who have been captured and detained in war.
President Donald Trump also tweeted out a message for the day of recognition:
On National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day, we honor the more than 500,000 American warriors captured while protecting our way of life. We pay tribute to these Patriots for their unwavering and unrelenting spirit! https://t.co/KOI7Qd1pZx
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 9, 2020
Shortly after the president sent the above tweet, Meghan McCain, daughter of late-Senator John McCain of Arizona, who was himself a Prisoner of War in Vietnam, replied:
“John McCain is not a ‘war hero.’ He is a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured, let me tell you.”
No one has forgotten this is how you honor POW’s. https://t.co/Yp8WdhuDch
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) April 9, 2020
Trump, who was repeatedly criticized during the campaign for having obtained four draft deferments during the Vietnam War for education and a fifth for alleged bone spurs in his feet, made his “not a war hero” remark about McCain in July 2015, approximately a month after announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president, while attending the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa.
The following is the full exchange between Trump and political consultant Frank Luntz:
TRUMP: John McCain goes, “Oh boy, Trump makes my life difficult. He had 15,000 crazies show up.” Crazies. He called them all crazy. I said, “They weren’t crazy, they were great Americans.” These people, if you would have seen these people – I know what a crazy is, I know all about crazies. These weren’t crazy.
So, he insulted me and he insulted everybody in that room, and I said, “Somebody should run against John McCain” who has been, you know, in my opinion, not so hot – and I supported him. I supported him for president. I raised a million dollars for him. It’s a lot of money. I supported him. He lost. He let us down – but, you know, he lost, so I’ve never liked him as much after that because I don’t like losers … he hit me –
LUNTZ: He’s a war hero. He’s a war hero. Five and a half years in a POW camp.
TRUMP: He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured, okay, I hate to tell you.
LUNTZ: Do you agree with that?
TRUMP: He’s a war hero because he was captured, okay? You could have – and I believe perhaps he’s a war hero – but right now, he said some very bad things about a lot of people.
Then-candidate Trump later sent out what appeared to be a walk-back tweet:
Captured or not, all our soldiers are heroes!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2015
He also released a statement defending his remarks and further criticizing McCain:
I am not a fan of John McCain because he has done so little for our Veterans and he should know better than anybody what the Veterans need, especially in regards to the VA. He is yet another all talk, no action politician who spends too much time on television and not enough time doing his job and helping the Vets. He is also allowing our military to decrease substantially in size and strength, something which should never be allowed to happen.
Furthermore, he was extremely disrespectful to the thousands upon thousands of people, many of whom happen to be his constituents, that came to listen to me speak about illegal immigration in Phoenix last week by calling them “crazies.”
These were not “crazies” – these were great American citizens.
I have great respect for all those who serve in our military including those that weren’t captured and are also heroes. I want to strengthen our military and take care of our Veterans. I want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN especially for those that serve to protect our freedom. I am fighting for our Veterans!
President Trump’s full statement on National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day can be read here.