The president is known for taking aim at his opponents on Twitter. But over the weekend, President Donald Trump used the platform to take a swing at an adversary who is unable to swing back — the late Sen. John McCain. In turn, the former senator's daughter, Meghan McCain, slammed Trump for criticizing her father, accusing the president of "obsessing" over her family.
"No one will ever love you the way they loved my father.... I wish I had been given more Saturday’s [sic] with him," Meghan tweeted. "Maybe spend yours with your family instead of on twitter obsessing over mine?"
In another tweet that has since been deleted, Meghan also said that her father lived "rent free" in President Trump's head, according to reports. Although she took the quip down, her other tweet remains up as of Sunday afternoon.
Trump tweeted about McCain twice within just 24 hours, criticizing his vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act, as well as his relationship to what is sometimes referred to as the "Russia Dossier." The dossier — also sometimes referred to as the Steele Dossier, after the former spy who compiled it — is a series of documents alleging collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Russian government. (Trump has vehemently denied that any collusion took place.)
Reports have long indicated that McCain was among those who received a copy of the dossier in the fall of 2016, and that he then passed the dossier on to the FBI, according to The Washington Post. Over the weekend, the president accused McCain of colluding with Democrats in an attempt to publish the dossier before the 2016 election had taken place.
"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," Trump tweeted Sunday morning. "He & the Dems, working together, failed (as usual). Even the Fake News refused this garbage!"
As the Russia investigation has carried forward, the president has displayed sensitivity to both the investigation and anything seemingly related to it. His weekend tweets about the late Sen. McCain suggested that this continues to remain true.
For her part, Meghan has developed a reputation for pushing back against the president — especially when he comes for her father. This was true even before McCain died last August.
“[Trump’s] comments are never going to be OK with me, especially at this moment in my life. I’m never going to forgive it,” she said last July, while accepting the Lyndon B. Johnson Liberty and Justice for All award on her father's behalf, according to Time. She added, “I’m never going to move on from it.”
The president's long-held political grudge against McCain often resurfaces when there is any movement related to the Russia investigation or any discussion about the Affordable Care Act. This is to say that it's highly possible that he will criticize the late senator again in the future, and if Meghan stays true to her promise, this will likely not be the last public sparring between the two.
