John McCain’s Son, Jimmy McCain, Slams Donald Trump’s Trip To Arlington Cemetery – And Endorses Kamala Harris

On Tuesday, Jimmy McCain, the youngest son of the late Sen John McCain, criticized Donald Trump’s visit to Arlington Cemetery and declared that he would endorse Kamala Harris.

Trump visited the cemetery after a wreath-laying ceremony honoring the 13 U.S. service members murdered three years ago at Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate in Afghanistan.

A video posted by the Trump campaign on TikTok shows the former president walking through Arlington and visiting grave sites while audio plays of him slamming the Biden administration’s “disastrous” Afghanistan withdrawal.

Trump was slammed last week after his campaign staff argued with an unidentified Arlington Cemetery staff member who was attempting to keep them from taking video footage at a grave site, which the cemetery confirmed would be a violation of federal law.

His campaign’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, ridiculed the staff member, saying they had been “suffering from a mental health episode.”

Another campaign official, Chris LaCivita, called the staff member a “despicable individual” who “does not deserve to represent the [hallowed] grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.”

Military officials said that the staffer, a woman, refused to press charges out of fear of retaliation from Trump’s supporters.

McCain announced his endorsement of Harris during an appearance on The Lead with Jake Tapper on Tuesday.

During his appearance, he explained to Tapper why he considered the former president’s visit to the cemetery a “violation.”

“Well, as you well, sir, Arlington Cemetery is sacred to all people who have – all people who are members of the military, all people who have served in the uniform,” he noted. “It’s a sacred area. Three generations of McCains are buried there. It’s a violation because these rules are set in place. The people who are buried there don’t have an opinion.”

“The point of Arlington Cemetery is to go and show respect for the men and women who have given their lives to this country,” he stated. “When you make it political, you take away the respect of the people who are there.”

Later on in the interview, Tapper asked McCain if an apology from Trump would make any difference for him.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I mean, the first thing about, you know, John McCain, you don’t spend that long in politics without messing up once or twice.”

McCain told CNN that he “would get involved in any way [he] could” to assist the Harris campaign.

McCain disclosed that several weeks ago, he switched his party affiliation from Independent to Democrat, even though his family has a longstanding history with the Republican party.

“I think one of the main points of switching over and coming over has been, you know, like I said, the – I think – I feel that Kamala Harris and [Gov.] Tim Walz [(D-Minnesota)] embodies a group of people who will help make this country better,” he declared. 

“That will take us forward,” McCain stated. “And that’s really what matters at the end of the day is, you know, voting with your heart, voting how you feel going forward.”