This weekend, the nation paid its respects to the late U.S. Senator John McCain in part via a service held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. During the procession away from that cathedral, a demonstrator along the side of the road sought to emphasize the difference between the fallen leader and the current president, Donald Trump.
In full view of national televisions broadcasts, a presently unnamed individual displayed a large sign reading:
‘POW MCCAIN HERO. TRUMP COWARD’
Check it out below.
Although the demonstration was certainly among the most straightforward of its type surrounding McCain’s memorials, it wasn’t entirely alone.
During the Saturday National Cathedral service itself, McCain’s daughter Meghan commented to the crowd:
‘The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again, because America was always great.’
Applause ensued following that remark, which some noted was unusual for a funeral — but emblematic of a general dismissal of President Donald Trump and his belligerence.
There’s not really any other way to take Meghan’s remark besides as a jab at the president, who himself certainly seems to have taken it personally.
Although he’s done it in the past, late Saturday, hours after the McCain service at the National Cathedral had concluded, he tweeted, simply:
‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’
The tweet — and Saturday protest presence along the side of McCain’s funeral procession — came days after Trump finally got around to issuing a formal statement in honor of McCain’s death.
After having first simply tweeted well wishes for the family members the fallen Senator left behind, this past Monday, he added:
‘Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain’s service to our country.’
The statement also included formalities, like an announcement that the American flag would be flown at half staff until McCain’s burial and that Vice President Mike Pence would represent the highest rungs of the executive branch at McCain’s memorial services.
Trump couldn’t find it in himself to issue a statement that only honored McCain, apparently, since he made sure to note the differences on policy and politics between the two men. Those differences include McCain’s distaste for Trump’s suckering up to dictators — which is more like the Senator sticking up for a basic principle of American democracy and less like him having a difference of opinion.
The lone demonstrator making their voice heard on national television this weekend highlighted this difference.
McCain, after his death, found plenty of others willing to back him. Besides Meghan McCain’s already mentioned comments, former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden also offered comments that condemned the current administration without mentioning it by name.
Saturday, Obama told those at the National Cathedral:
‘So much of our politics… can seem small and mean and petty, trafficking in bombast and insults and phony controversies and manufactured outrage… John called us to be bigger and better than that.’
Similarly, Thursday at a service in Arizona, Joe Biden commented that “where [McCain would] part company with you is if you lacked the basic values of decency, respect — knowing that this project is bigger than yourself.”
No matter how many times Trump screams fake news, he can’t escape the opposition to his agenda.
Featured Image via YouTube screenshot
