Disgraced former president Donald Trump was defeated last year, but he left a stain upon all that he touched.
One of the many defining moments of his original campaign was disparaging John McCain and other soldiers.
The late senator’s widow, Cindy McCain, is explaining exactly why she endorsed President Joe Biden.
Surprisingly, her motives are much less personal than they might have been.
“John used humor and took it in stride,” Cindy said of the family’s response to Donald Trump’s contempt.
She emphasized that conflict with the orange menace was a “very small,” and “minor” part of their lives.
But it was a big enough deal that she addressed it in her new book.
Speaking on Morning Joe, Cindy spoke of her upcoming book and shared excerpts.
Stronger: Courage, Hope, and Humor In My Lfie With John McCain does not hold back.
And there, she explains exactly why she
“My Republican roots run deep,” Cindy wrote.
“And,” she pledged in the book, “I haven’t given up on the party.”
But that doesn’t mean that she’s mincing words when it comes to the GOP’s current state.
“I hope it can regenerate itself,” Cindy expressed in the book.
“And,” she continued, “swing away from the disgrace it has become.”
“Republicans in Arizona and elsewhere deserve better,” Cindy opined.
“The party fell in thrall to a snake oil salesman,” she noted.
While that line sounds almost evergreen, it refers specifically to Donald Trump.
When it comes to Cindy’s political preferences, she lists some non-partisan examples.
“I prefer the gold standard of politics I learned from John and Joe,” Cindy wrote.
She is referring of course to her late husband and to President Joe Biden.
“That whether you win or lose,” she explained, “you do it honorably.”
“I am glad that when I travel internationally now,” Cindy wrote.
She affirmed that “I can once again be proud of our president.”
Cindy is not the only one expressing how proud she is at the moment.
As Cindy did her media tour to promote her new book, someone was watching at home.
Meghan McCain shared a photo of her 6-month-old daughter, Liberty.
The sweet little baby was watching her mother and her grandmother appear on television.
“Girl power,” Meghan captioned the photo.
While many of us are reminded of the Eric Andre “girl power” meme about Margaret Thatcher, that was not Meghan’s intention.
She meant it sincerely.
Meghan has previously shared that Liberty is “obsessed with” her grandmother.
She also says that her daughter looks a lot like Cindy.
Liberty’s personality, Meghan describes, is more like Meghan herself.
We’re sure that Meghan did not intend that as an insult, but as praise.
There is much to be said about the McCain family’s “reasonable conservative” brand and how valid or not that may be.
However, Meghan and Cindy both do have a tendency to sometimes make statements that unite both sides of the aisle … often against Trump.
There is and will always be a lot to be said about how John McCain’s legacy has impacted politics.
Many believe that McCain’s ill-fated choice in a 2008 running mate was grim foreshadowing for for the Trump crime family’s takeover.
But that does not mean that Cindy’s memories of her late husband or characterization of Trump himself are inaccurate.