Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of John McCain’s closest friends in the Senate, said President Donald Trump has the ‘right to feel anyway he likes’ about the late senator.
‘How the President feels about Senator McCain, it’s his right to feel anyway he likes. I know how America feels about Senator McCain. I know how the Senate feels about Senator McCain. I know how the world feels about Senator McCain,’ Graham said Tuesday morning on NBC’s ‘Today Show.’
‘Clearly they had a contentious relationship. He’s not the only one to have had a tense relationship with John McCain,’ he added.
Lindsey Graham, one of John McCain’s closest friends, said President Trump can feel anyway he likes about the late Senator
Graham will honor McCain with a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday
President Trump had initially resisted calls to speak about John McCain
Graham also said that White House chief of staff John Kelly had reached out to the McCain family and had spoken to Cindy McCain, offering the administration’s assistance in whatever she needs.
‘The President told John Kelly ‘Whatever they need they get,’ so let’s look forward,’ Graham said.
McCain was known for his temper and short fuse but, while he often got into tiffs with fellow senators, reporters, and others he usually would get over the disagreement and form a working relationship.
Two men who defeated him for the presidency – George W. Bush in the 2000 GOP presidential primary and Barack Obama in the 2008 general election – are speaking at his funeral.
But McCain and Trump were never able to bridge the gap between them.
The longtime feud between the two men reached its peak on Monday, after the White House raised its flag to full staff, prompting outrage at what people took to be a slight of the late senator.
The president relented Monday afternoon – after the commander of the influential veterans group the American Legion released a statement asking for the flag to be lowered.
‘Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain’s service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment,’ Trump said in a statement.
McCain will be buried Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
‘It’s all over now,’ Graham said. ‘The flag is down.’
Additionally, Trump offered praise of the late senator during a dinner with evangelical leaders at the White House on Monday evening.
‘We very much appreciate everything that Senator McCain has done for our country,’ he said.
Down on president’s orders: The flag above the residence in the White House was lowered Monday after criticism that John McCain was not being honored
The flag will be at half staff until Senator McCain is buried on Sunday
A black cloth and white roses were placed on John McCain’s Senate desk – a tradition for senators who die while in office
Throughout most of Monday, the coverage of the late senator focused on the White House flag and the president’s stubborn refusal to lower it or acknowledge McCain’s legacy.
Twice Trump declined to answer reporters’ questions on the late senator and, at one point, sat at his desk in the Oval Office, arms crossed and refusing to speak.
Even Vice President Mike Pence and chief of staff John Kelly tried to get him to relent and issue as statement, four administration officials told The New York Times.
Additionally, Kelly, National Security Adviser John Bolton, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine urged Trump to let aides take over the White House response to McCain’s death.
McCain, himself, got in a final word on Monday, when his longtime aide Rick Davis read a letter to America the senator dictated before he died.
His words of patriotism, gratitude and love of country also contained a rebuke to th president.
‘We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe,’ McCain’s statement read. ‘We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.’
Trump wants to build a border wall between the United States and Mexico.
The senator died Saturday at the age of 81 after a long battle with brain cancer.
Trump will not be attending the senator’s funeral on Saturday as McCain banned his attendance before his death.
Instead, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly (a retired Army general), Defense Secretary James Mattis (retired Marine Corps General, and National Security Adviser John Bolton (National Guard) will represent the Trump administration.
Vice President Mike Pence will speak at a ceremony for McCain on Friday at the U.S. Capitol.
President Trump also praised McCain during a dinner with evangelical leaders on Monday
Sen. John McCain’s last words included a rebuke to President Trump
John McCain (pictured December 2017) passed away after a battle with brain cancer this weekend and Trump, 72, left White House officials to post their own personal tributes
Trump also authorized full military honors for McCain when he is buried on Sunday on Hospital Hill at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Davis choked up a several points as he read McCain’s words.
He declined to answer any question’s about the flag or Trump’s response to McCain’s death.
‘The entire focus of McCain family is on John McCain. There really is no room in the McCain family today to focus on anything but him,’ Davis said. ‘I think any discussion of what any one individual has done or said, if you look at the gravity of all he reactions around the world – world leaders our allies – it’s been immense. They choose to focus on that.’
Graham, who has traveled the world with McCain as one of a group of Senate friends known as ‘The Three Amigos,’ will pay tribute to his pal with a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday.
‘The last thing he said to me was, ‘I love you, I have not been cheated,’ Graham said as a tear rolled down his cheek.