Meghan McCain posted a meme that seemed to be a response to President Donald Trump‘s recently revealed comments about U.S. military veterans, including her father, Sen. John McCain. Although she is an avowed Republican, McCain has frequently denounced Trump, not least of all because of his hostile treatment of her father. This weekend, it seems she is ready to leave it all behind and walk away.
McCain’s meme showed a picture of a little girl dressed in full hippie regalia and holding a guitar, standing outside with one arm raised over her head. It read: “Me trying to convince my friends we should buy a very large plot of land and start a community.” In the caption, McCain issued a call to action: “lovers of freedom and liberty who still believe in bipartisanship and the American dream, join me!” adding “(But for real, I think I’m this friend to all my friends…)”
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McCain’s post picked up over 16,000 likes overnight, and her followers seemed confident in what she was referring to. This week, a report by The Atlantic included multiple sources sharing stories of Trump’s disparaging comments about U.S. Military service members. He reportedly referred to soldiers killed in action as “losers” and “suckers” while trying to keep wounded veterans out of military parades.
Much of this harkened back to Trump’s combative relationship with Sen. John McCain, who survived time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. When asked about McCain’s service during a 2015 interview, Trump said: “I like people who weren’t captured.”
While her meme registered had implications to many of her followers, Meghan McCain was much more explicit about her feelings on Twitter on Thursday. As the Atlantic story circulated, she tweeted: “This never stops being incredibly painful, triggering, and it rips off new layers of grief that wreak havoc on my life. I wouldn’t wish any of it on my worst enemy. I truly pray for peace for my family, our grief, and for this country.”
Trump seemed to respond in a tweet of his own a few minutes later, writing that he “was never a big fan of John McCain” and explaining their various disagreements over the years before pointing out that “the first class funeral he was given by our country, had to be approved by me, as president, and I did so without hesitation or complaint.”
The Atlantic‘s story has now been confirmed independently by a second report from Fox News, bringing even more criticism down on the embattled president. Many are questioning how it will impact his chances in the 2020 presidential election.
