U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson blasted President Donald Trump’s critical remarks about the late Sen. John McCain on a radio interview Wednesday afternoon.
Isakson, a Republican from East Cobb, was interviewed on the Georgia Public Broadcasting program “Political Rewind.”
(A recording of the interview can be accessed at the program’s website.)
Isakson said he was prompted to speak out not only because of his friendship with McCain, but because of what he thinks is the negative impact of Trump’s remarks, especially by those serving in the military.
McCain, a former Vietnam POW who preceded Isakson as the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee chairman, was a strong critic of Trump, and the enmity was mutual.
Over the weekend, Trump renewed accusations he’s made before that McCain forwarded to the FBI a dossier regarding possible compromising information about Trump before he was elected president in 2016.
“Spreading the fake and totally discredited Dossier ‘is unfortunately a very dark stain against John McCain,’ ” went one Tweet from Trump.
Another Tweet continued the criticism: “So it was indeed (just proven in court papers) ‘last in his class’ (Annapolis) John McCain that sent the Fake Dossier to the FBI and Media hoping to have it printed BEFORE the Election.”
“It’s deplorable what he said,” Isakson said, referring to Trump, during the interview conducted at the GPB studios in Atlanta. “It will be deplorable in seven months if he says it again, and I will continue to speak out. We should never reduce the service that people give to this country.”
The Bulwark, a new conservative political website, reported early Wednesday that Isakson, Georgia’s senior senator, was making good on a pledge he made from the Senate floor after McCain’s death that anyone who “tarnishes the reputation of John McCain deserves a whipping.”
On Tuesday, he said this in an interview with The Bulwark, which is highly critical of Trump:
“I just want to lay it on the line, that the country deserves better, the McCain family deserves better, I don’t care if he’s president of United States, owns all the real estate in New York, or is building the greatest immigration system in the world. Nothing is more important than the integrity of the country and those who fought and risked their lives for all of us.”
More recent information unsealed by a judge last week includes testimony that McCain passed along the dossier to the FBI in December 2016, after the election.
The dossier contents are part of an investigation by former FBI director Robert Mueller into alleged Russian political interference in U.S. elections. Trump’s former campaign manager and personal lawyer have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the probe.
When asked to clarify his comments on Tuesday, Trump said that “I was never a fan of John McCain’s and I never will be.”
Isakson is one of the few Republican senators who’s spoken publicly about Trump’s McCain comments. Thus far he is the only one who is directly challenging what his spokeswoman said is “the president’s continued disparagement” of McCain, who died last summer from brain cancer.
“I want to elevate John. John was better than I am, and I know it,” Isakson told The Bulwark. “John was the best of my generation. John McCain was and is a great human being.”
Last month Isakson was named the inaugural recipient of the John McCain Service to Country Award.
During the GPB interview, Isakson was asked if he was concerned about his legislative priorities being affected by his criticisms of Trump, and not for the first time.
“I never worry about what I’m doing politically or practically in the Senate as long as I think I’m doing what’s right,” Isakson said.
The Bulwark was launched in December and is co-founded by William Kristol, a former White House aide and conservative writer who has been highly critical of Trump, especially on social media.
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Now RINO senators (giving interviews to never-Trumper elitists whose magazines have gone under) are trying to censor the bully pulpit. If Trump is asked about McCain, as he was, he should be able to comment on the news that McCain had worked against his agenda for years, including the spreading of that fake Hilary Clinton opposition research piece called “the dossier.” Which was the basis for lies and millions in wasted taxpayer dollars on the witch hunt. Johnny has always been sharp, but the fact he takes Trump’s comments as some kind of hit on all veterans shows it’s time to go. Perhaps ailing senators need to cede their power to those who are willing to fight against communists and democrats, NOT their own party’s sitting president.
Only dummycrats are allowed criticism McCain
Isakson will still go down in history as a shameless Trump enabler.
I’ll believe it when I SEE it…