Barack Obama reflected on late Sen. John McCain, his opponent in the 2008 election, and a now-viral moment from the Republican’s campaign that showed how his “character” compares to Donald Trump on Friday.
The former president, in a speech at a Kamala Harris campaign rally, cautioned that he didn’t want to “over-romanticize” his relationship with McCain and noted that the 2008 GOP presidential nominee was a “conservative to put it mildly.”
“But you know what, he understood that some values transcend party,” said Obama while campaigning for the current Democratic nominee in Tucson, Arizona.
“He believed an honest argument and hearing the views of other people. He didn’t demonize political opponents.”
He then referred to McCain’s response to a woman at a 2008 town hall-style event in Lakeville, Minnesota after she declared that she couldn’t “trust” Obama and pushed a baseless claim that he was “an Arab.”
McCain shook his head no in response to the woman, whose claim is tied to a racist “birther” conspiracy theory about Obama.
“No m’aam, no m’aam. He’s a decent family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that’s what this campaign is all about,” he said in a viral clip that’s also received backlash from those who say he didn’t do enough to combat against the woman’s anti-Arab racism.
Obama, at the Arizona rally on Friday, said McCain “shut it down” with his response to the woman.
“He knew that if we get in the habit of bending the truth to suit political expediency or party orthodoxy, our democracy can’t work. The man had character,” Obama said.
He later continued, “I mean, one of the most disturbing things about this election and Donald Trump’s rise in politics is how we seem to have set aside the values that people like John McCain stood for. Values we were taught.”
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