Meghan McCain Says Trump Is 'So Obsessed' With Her Father's Legacy

Meghan McCain , daughter of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), seized a few minutes at the start of “The View” on Thursday to address President Donald Trump ’s latest reported slight against her father, who died of cancer in August.

Reports by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times state that the White House asked the Navy to hide the USS John S. McCain during Trump’s visit to Japan this week so that the ship’s name would not appear in photos with the president.

The warship is named after the late Arizona senator, his father and his grandfather. Trump’s antagonistic relationship with John McCain was well-documented .

“It’s impossible to go through the grief process when my father who has been dead for 10 months is constantly in the news cycle because the president is so obsessed with the fact that he’s never going to be a great man like he was,” said Meghan McCain, who co-hosts the ABC daytime show.

“It’s a bizarre way to grieve and say goodbye to my dad,” she continued, saying that Trump has made her father “omnipresent in politics” but “not like in a way we’re honoring him.”

“Please have more compassion. This is very hard,” she said. “I try and put on a game face every day and try to be as stoic as possible. Grief is tricky.”

She added: “I’m sorry if nine months isn’t enough for me to move on.” 

McCain said Wednesday  in a tweet that Trump’s attacks on her deceased father have made her grief “unbearable,” but she continues to defend him because “Trump won’t let him RIP.”

She reiterated that point Thursday, saying the allegations are also “bad for Americans” and “put[s] people in the Navy in horrific situations” where they fear retribution if they do not follow orders.

“The president’s actions have consequences. When you are repeatedly attacking my father and war heroes, it creates a culture in the military where people are fearful to show my father’s name in one way or another,” McCain said.

Still, she noted that she does not blame service members for allegedly attempting to cover up the ship’s name which the Navy denies doing. 

Both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal noted that sailors on the McCain, who typically wear caps bearing the ship’s name, were given the day off. The Times said the sailors were also not invited to hear Trump speak aboard the amphibious ship Wasp, while other military service members were present.

Trump has said he “was not informed about anything having to do with the Navy Ship USS John. S. McCain during my recent visit to Japan.” 

Yet the president said whoever made the request was likely “well-meaning.”