In Biden Ad, Cindy McCain Says President Should 'Bring Out the Best in Us, Not the Worst'
Cindy McCain, widow of the late Republican Senator John McCain, urged Americans to vote for the presidential candidate that would "bring out the best in us, not the worst" in her first campaign ad for Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
In the roughly one-minute clip, Cindy McCain strongly encouraged voters to choose Biden on November 3 by invoking the former vice president's friendship with John McCain. "My husband knew Joe Biden for a long time," she said. "They traveled thousands of miles together visiting troops overseas, and they developed the kind of friendship that you don't see too often.
"In the Senate, they'd disagree on almost everything. They'd fight like hell on the floor, and then they'd go eat lunch together," Cindy McCain added, "because they always put their friendship and their country first."
She declared that America was in desperate need of a leader that would put "service before self."
"A president who will lead with courage and compassion, not ego," she said, in an apparent jab at Trump. "A president who would respect the sacrifices made by our service members and their families. A president who would honor our fallen heroes and a president who would bring out the best in us, not the worst."
Cindy McCain finished her remarks by assuring the public that Biden would "always fight for the American people, just like John did."
Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
Cindy McCain officially announced her endorsement of Biden in late September. "My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost," she tweeted. "There's only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is Joe Biden."
In explaining her decision to back Biden's campaign, Cindy McCain said her deceased husband "would have been disappointed at what's going on" and "upset about the direction the country's going."
"If I look up I hope he's happy with what I'm doing and believes that I've done the right thing," she said. "That's all I can ask for."
Trump, who frequently clashed with John McCain, was not invited to the 2008 GOP nominee's funeral. In response to McCain's support for his Democratic opponent, the president said he "hardly" knew her and was "never a fan" of her late husband.
"I hardly know Cindy McCain other than having put her on a Committee at her husband's request," Trump tweeted. "Joe Biden was John McCain's lapdog. So many BAD decisions on Endless Wars & the V.A., which I brought from a horror show to HIGH APPROVAL. Never a fan of John. Cindy can have Sleepy Joe!"
After being elected the GOP presidential nominee in 2008, John McCain lost to former President Barack Obama. He passed away in 2018 after fighting a glioblastoma brain tumor.
