Cindy McCain on Tuesday endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for the presidency, in a show of rejection of running president Donald Trump by the widow of who was a Republican candidate for the White House in 2008.
My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden.
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) September 22, 2020
Trump has had a tense relationship with members of John McCain’s family since he made derogatory comments from the senator for Arizona during his 2016 presidential campaign. But so far the McCains had refused to offer their support to Trump’s rivals.
Cindy McCain mentioned decades of friendship between her family and Biden’s and her bond as parents of children.
“He endorses up the troops, and they know what that means for someone who has served in the army,” McCain said in a phone interview. “Not only do you love someone who has served, but you understand what it means to send a child to combat. We’ve been great friends for many years, but we have a common ground that we’re from military families.”
McCain’s endorsement could help Biden attract MEMBERS of the Republican Party who are unhappy with the Republican president and give the former vice president a boost in Arizona, a key state without clear political preference that Cindy McCain represented in Congress for 35 years. McCain remains a respected figure since he died in 2018 of complications related to a brain tumor, particularly among independent voters Biden cuts.
“I decided to take a stand and hopefully other people will see the same thing. Other women in particular,” McCain said. “They may have to get out of their comfort zone a little, but Biden is by far the best candidate in the contest.”
Cindy McCain said he hasn’t voted for a Democrat since he was 18 and followed his parents’ example. She’s still registered as a Republican and has no plans to change that, she said.
Biden told some of his campaign donors Tuesday that McCain’s endorsement was “so (Trump) said about my son and John and others who are heroes, who have served their country. You know, they were losers, fools.”
The former vice president was referring to reports that Trump made derogatory comments about American soldiers who have been killed in combat. The representative has denied making such statements, which were first reported by anonymous sources. Many of the comments were later confirmed.