The rise of Donald Trump to power has — among other issues — exposed a deep divide in Republican politics. On the one hand, you’ve got the president and his supporters, who support openly racist ideals and virulently fatalistic nationalism. On the other side, you’ve got people like Ohio Governor John Kasich and Arizona Senator John McCain — some of whom, have, of course, acted as enablers.
Even still, McCain, who is battling a rare form of brain cancer, has maintained a stance of staunch opposition to the president on a number of issues. In a new memoir of his out May 22, he keeps this up and addresses those who would rather him have fallen in line a long time ago.
He addressed, in specific, his role in the Russia investigation. He handed off a copy of the long infamous “Trump dossier” to then-FBI Director James Comey, thus sharing with Comey an array of allegations about the president and his associates collected by former British spy Christopher Steele. Among those allegations are claims ranging from Trump lawyer Michael Cohen having gone to Prague to facilitate pre-election cooperation between the Trump team and Russia to the Russians hanging onto “damaging information” about Trump in the form of tapes of him interacting with Russian prostitutes.
Writing about having alerted James Comey to these allegations, McCain says:
‘I did what duty demanded I do. I discharged that obligation, and I would do it again. Anyone who doesn’t like it can go to hell.’
Among those who have proven to be hardly fond of McCain’s move is the president himself, who, along with his allies, has sought to discredit the dossier at every turn, claiming it to be “fake news.” As a part of his fury with the Russia investigation and the very existence of the dossier, Trump fired James Comey last year, but he wasn’t able to get out of accountability that easily. Soon after Comey’s firing, Special Counsel for the Russia investigation Robert Mueller was appointed.
McCain, in his new book — called The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations — takes on the president and his allies for reasons besides their apprehensions at the justice system being allowed to run its courses.
He also addressed their generally anti-immigration stances, writing of virulently anti-immigration factions:
‘They’re still a small fraction in the Republican Party. But they’re the ones getting all the attention right now. They need to be confronted, not ignored or winked at or quietly dismissed as kooks. They need to be confronted before their noxious views spread further and damage for generations the reputation of the Republican Party.’
The president has, of course, himself sought to see a wall go up in between the United States and Mexico in perhaps the most glaring instance of anti-immigrant sentiment in the past few years. He has found a number of allies while entrenched in his position, and John McCain has no time for these people.
The Senator himself is, as mentioned, battling brain cancer, and he wrote that “a stage 4 cancer diagnosis acts as ungentle persuasion” to consider the fact that he will soon be leaving the Senate. He has been reported to not want President Donald Trump at his funeral.
Featured Image via Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
