![Did McCain Really Try To Insult Trump Over Vietnam Draft? [VIDEO]](https://victorygirlsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/squaremccaincspan.jpg)
Officially, the United States will be recognizing and commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War for the next several years. No, really—the commemorations will be lasting until 2025.
Senator John McCain gave an interview to C-SPAN about his service in Vietnam, which contained stories of his personal service.
But then this comment popped up, and the media took a collective gasp.
TONIGHT – @SenJohnMcCain talks about the Vietnam War's legacy on C-SPAN, at 6 & 10pm ET. pic.twitter.com/WnZT0n8Mcn
— American History TV (@cspanhistory) October 22, 2017
And then everyone went into a tizzy: did McCain just take a shot at President Trump‘s lack of Vietnam service?
“One aspect of the (Vietnam) conflict by the way that I will never ever countenance is that we drafted the lowest income level of America and the highest income level found a doctor that would say that they had a bone spur,” McCain said. “That is wrong. That is wrong. If we are going to ask every American to serve, every American should serve.”
McCain, a Vietnam veteran who was captured by the Viet Cong, was referencing an ailment cited in Trump’s draft deferments.
In total, Trump received five deferments from the draft during the Vietnam War due to heel spurs, bone protrusions caused by a calcium buildup.
It is an undeniable fact that the Vietnam-era draft left a bitter legacy in regard to military service. It’s also undeniable that this all happened A REALLY LONG TIME AGO. Fifty years is not exactly a short period of time. For me, the Vietnam War ended before I was born. This was the war of my parents’ generation. Family members of that era, including my father, all had draft cards. My husband’s uncle didn’t want to be drafted into the Army, so he joined the Navy. Everyone who lived through that era can tell you exactly who served, who got deferments, who never got called up, and who was killed or missing.
So is McCain really poking at Trump without saying his name? Or is this just how he really feels about those who got multiple deferments?
My guess is that it’s probably both. After all, there is more than enough Taylor-Swift-style-bad-blood between McCain and Trump.
The comments come after Trump and the senator, who has emerged as one of the president’s most vociferous GOP critics, exchanged brief but heated words following a speech McCain gave last week criticizing “half-baked, spurious nationalism.” When asked about McCain’s speech, Trump said: “People have to be careful, because at some point I fight back.”
“I’ve faced greater challenged than this,” McCain shot back.
It’s not the first time things have gotten heated between the pair. During the presidential campaign, Trump went after McCain’s history of military service.
“He’s not a war hero,” Trump said in July 2015. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
McCain spent more than five years as a prisoner of war after his plane was downed by a surface-to-air missile.
And now we all get to hold our breath and see if Trump hits back via Twitter. Because that is what he does. And McCain’s comments—once they reach Trump’s radar—are going to be a red flag in front of a cranky bull.
But the media wants to get a slap fight going, because it’s good for their ratings. It’s just too bad that Trump will be only too happy to oblige and snap back at McCain. I miss having adults around who knew how to take a fight behind closed doors, instead of splashing it all over social media.
Bucky Barkingham says: McCain is dying from brain cancer. One would think that he has better things to do in his last days than engage in a bitter and petty feud.
Scott says: Well said Deanna and Bucky.. you’d alos hope that Trump would walk away from twitter on crap like this..
The other thing people forget, or just don’t mention… We had a draft for most previous wars (WW II and the Civil War stand out) and without question, in all of those, there were incidents of rich avoiding service, and low income not being able to. In some conflicts like the Civil War, it was even legal to buy your way out of it.. So to act as if this is something new is silly , and at the same time, we were told repeatedly that it was no big deal that BJ Clinton ran off to England and trash talked the US and the military while using his deferments…. interesting how the right / GOP are held to a much higher standard..
GWB says: I miss having adults around who knew how to take a fight behind closed doors, instead of splashing it all over social media.
I missed having people who would fight instead of rolling over to a “venerable” person. Too bad the fighting back is against someone who is nominally on our side – but, of course, he went over to the patrician party* long ago.
(* That is, the uni-party that loves their perch as the elite of our country, who rules over the ‘deplorable’ class.)
I care a bit about someone who avoided the draft in Vietnam. But it was 50 years ago. Of course, that means that I think McCain should have also stopped resting on that particular laurel a few decades ago.
I remember many guys who tried and many who did beat the draft, some ways were more creative than others. A couple of them knocked up girlfriends, and in one case, the first female who would have sex with him, and married them, as too many dependents would not get you drafted. Some stayed in school, going to law school for added deferment. If your family had contacts, you might get a medical deferment, but that could be easily caught in a draft physical. Myself, I beat the draft by spending 9 1/2 years in the Air Force.
To this day, I believe that most draft dodgers avoided service because they were afraid to fight and perhaps die. Too bad, they get to live as cowards for the rest of their lives. The ones that said the war was “immoral” and wouldn’t serve, I ask: where have all these “moral” people gone, their presence has not been reflected in society. The ones that fled to Canada, where are they now? Carter pardoned them, but I’ve yet to meet one, at least one that would admit it. As before, tough to be a coward.
4 Comments