McCain On Trump-Russia Connections: ‘There’s A Lot More Shoes To Drop’
Republican senator John McCain is locked in an ongoing feud with his party’s leader, President Donald Trump. The feud began almost as soon as Trump assumed office on January 20. The subjects of the evolving feud have ranged from Trump’s executive order that ban travel to the U.S. from seven countries with Muslim majority populations to the botched January 29 special forces raid in Yemen that left a U.S. Navy SEAL and several civilians dead. As with many of Trump’s feuds, his responses have come primary via Twitter.
The latest spat in the feud between McCain and Trump centers around Trump’s recent claims that former president Barack Obama tapped his phones during last year’s presidential campaign.
How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
Trump has come under fire from several reporters, pundits, and politicians — McCain among them — for making the accusation without providing any evidence. McCain pushed the criticism further on a Sunday morning talk show, calling for Trump to clear up the controversy.
“I have no reason to believe that the charge is true, but I also believe that the President of the United States could clear this up in a minute,” McCain told CNN anchor Jake Tapper.
“All he has to do is pick up the phone, call the director of the CIA, director of national intelligence and say, ‘OK, what happened?'”
.@SenJohnMcCain on Russia: there are “a lot more shoes to drop on this centipede.” #CNNsotu https://t.co/6mgA7fgOHs
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 12, 2017
McCain also said he thinks there is still more news to come in the scandal regarding alleged ties between the Trump campaign, his administration, and the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There’s a lot of aspects with this whole relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin that requires further scrutiny, and so far I don’t think the American people have gotten all the answers,” McCain told Tapper.
“In fact, I think there’s a lot of shoes to drop from this centipede.”
Trump has yet to respond to McCain’s suspicions.
That’s a far cry from the harsh salvo Trump fired off at McCain via Twitter after the latter criticized him for calling the Yemen raid a “very successful mission.”
Sen. McCain should not be talking about the success or failure of a mission to the media. Only emboldens the enemy! He’s been losing so….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
…long he doesn’t know how to win anymore, just look at the mess our country is in – bogged down in conflict all over the place. Our hero..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
..Ryan died on a winning mission ( according to General Mattis), not a “failure.” Time for the U.S. to get smart and start winning again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
While McCain’s comments regarding the Yemen raid were primarily made to reporters, he took a more official approach when criticizing Trump’s executive order that established the travel ban, issuing a joint statement with fellow Republican senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
John McCain Knows Something… https://t.co/Y1V1V4JbIe
— Muckmaker (@RealMuckmaker) March 13, 2017
“Ultimately, we fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism,” the statement read, according to a partial transcript from the Daily Dot.
“This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that America does not want Muslims coming into our country. That is why we fear this executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security.”
The travel ban was quickly stopped by a federal judge.
There are sure to be more barbs thrown ongoing feud, from both John McCain and Donald Trump.
[Featured Image by Win McNamee/Getty Images]
