Donald Trump slammed for ‘fake’ John McCain tribute
Donald Trump's "prayers" to John McCain's family have been perceived as "fake". Photo: Getty
US President Donald Trump has come under fire over his “fake” condolences to John McCain’s family after the Republican Senator died on Sunday.
Mr Trump took to social media to express his sympathy to the grieving family of his long-time rival, stating “our hearts and prayers are with you”.
However his message of good intent was met with fury for sharing his condolences alongside a full-length photo of himself.
Mr Trump’s sincerity was questioned after the post, with actress Mia Farrow one of many calling out the president’s “fake condolences”.
“While he was ill, you mocked him cruely. Just as you fail to see what makes America great, you will never understand why John McCain was a great man,” she tweeted.
Mr Trump and Mr McCain had what The New York Times described as a “years-long, bitter and often deeply personal feud between the two men that had lasted into the senator’s final days”.
The pair expressed a mutual distaste for one another since Mr Trump joined the political scene as a presidential candidate in 2015.
Mr McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam and prominent Republican politician, was Mr Trump’s earliest and most vocal critic from within his own party.
John McCain stopped medical treatment for his brain cancer in August. Photo: AAP
He also withdrew support for a Trump presidency a month prior to the 2016 election, after Mr Trump’s infamous Access Hollywood tape was released, on Mr Trump can be heard talking about groping women.
Mr McCain remained deeply critical of Mr Trump in his final year, calling his presidency an “unpatriotic” abdication of US leadership on the world stage and his policies as “half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems”.
His final wishes were for Mr Trump not to attend his funeral, where Mr McCain’s 2008 presidential election rival Barack Obama and former president George W Bush are expected to deliver eulogies.
The feud between Mr McCain and Mr Trump reached a climax during the 2016 presidential election, when Mr Trump belittled Mr McCain’s war record.
“He’s not a war hero,” Mr Trump said at a Republican presidential forum in 2015.
“He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
Mr McCain, 81, died on Sunday night after a lengthy battle with brain cancer.
He is survived by his wife, Cindy, seven children from two marriages and his mother, Roberta McCain, 106.