Thread: McCain: No comparison between Trump and Reagan

McCain: No comparison between Trump and Reagan

By Tim Skoczek, The Axe Files
Updated 10:10 PM ET, Sat April 1, 2017

Story highlights

Sen. John McCain is David Axelrod's latest guest on "The Axe Files"
President Donald Trump is nothing like Ronald Reagan, McCain says

"The Axe Files, featuring David Axelrod, is a podcast distributed by CNN and produced at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. The author works for the podcast."

Washington (CNN)Ask Sen. John McCain if he sees a comparison between Presidents Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan and the veteran Republican answers without hesitation.

"No, I don't," he told David Axelrod on "The Axe Files," a podcast from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN.

McCain said he found "appalling" Trump's assertion in an interview earlier this year that the US lacked the moral standing to question Russian President Vladimir Putin's human rights abuses. "We've got a lot of killers. What do you think, our country's so innocent?" Trump said at the time.

"To state that there's some moral equivalency between an imperfect nation -- that's the United States of America -- and Vladimir Putin is appalling," McCain responded.

"And I think it's pretty clear that there's a difference between, well, aren't we killers and the guy that stood there and said, 'Mr. Gorbachev, take down this wall,'" he said, recalling Reagan's historic challenge to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev delivered in a 1987 speech at the Berlin Wall.

In contrast to Trump's posture toward Russia, Reagan "spoke out for the captive nations" under Soviet rule and gave hope to the citizens there, McCain said. "That's a pretty big difference."

By assaulting a foundational principle of American democracy, McCain said, Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election was an act more destructive than if the US had been attacked through conventional warfare.

"It's one thing to destroy a building with a bomb or inflict damage, but if you destroy the fundamentals of a free and open society, which is what democracy is all about, you inflict incredibly heavier damage," he said.

The White House did not immediately return a request Saturday for comment on McCain's remarks.

Multiple congressional investigations and an FBI probe are underway to determine if there was any collusion between figures associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election.

But McCain was cautious when asked if he would consider any contacts between Americans and the Russians who interfered with the election to be an act of treason.

"There's one thing to have a conversation. It's another thing to plot together," he said. "But I think it would be something that that individual would have to be held accountable."

During this conversation, which also aired on CNN Saturday night, McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, expressed concerns about the philosophical gulf between Trump's national security team and key members of his White House staff.

Registering his strong support for Defense Secretary James Mattis; Lt. General H.R. McMaster, Trump's national security adviser; and John F. Kelly, the Homeland Security secretary, McCain called the group "the strongest (national security team) I've seen."

But the Arizona senator said their appreciation for global institutions and America's leadership role stood in contrast with the views of his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and policy director Stephen Miller, who are seen as the architects of Trump's neo-isolationist, "America First" rhetoric.

"I know that the President has great respect for these former military people that he has given the most important national security posts," McCain said. Yet, he added, "Everybody tells me that Mr. Bannon has his ear constantly. So there is a contradiction within this administration."

The President's foreign policy team must navigate their internal divisions while at the same time confronting "a world in incredible turmoil," McCain said. The 2008 Republican presidential nominee, who ran against Barack Obama, ascribed much of that turmoil to Obama's policies, which he termed an "unmitigated disaster."

"I am more worried about this country than I've been in my entire lifetime," he said. "We are seeing strains on the world order."

To hear the whole conversation with McCain, click on http://podcast.cnn.com. To get "The Axe Files" podcast every week, subscribe at http://itunes.com/theaxefiles.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/01/politi...ain-axe-files/

LOL!! And NeverTrumpers were worried about Trump being a Democrat??!!! John McCain is the biggest Democrat in the country hiding behind the Republican Label. This man really makes me want to puke. He's so slimey you need a bath every time you waste your time listening to this traitor.

By assaulting a foundational principle of American democracy, McCain said, Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election was an act more destructive than if the US had been attacked through conventional warfare.

"It's one thing to destroy a building with a bomb or inflict damage, but if you destroy the fundamentals of a free and open society, which is what democracy is all about, you inflict incredibly heavier damage," he said.

The White House did not immediately return a request Saturday for comment on McCain's remarks.

Well, it's certainly understandable why the White House did not immediately return a request for comment. I mean how do you respond to such a statement made by a sitting US Senator and former Republican candidate for President who thinks Trump winning an election fair and square was worse than a military attack on the United States??!!

There are no words. I guess he thinks all the buildings in America are empty. I guess he didn't think 9/11 was such a big deal, after all just buildings. I guess he thinks our response to Pearl Harbor was an over-reaction. I guess he doesn't understand that when you're under attack, you are no longer a free and "open society".

Wait a minute, is that an "Ooops"? Did McCain screw up and show off Soros in that statement? The only time I've ever heard that term "open society" is in relation to the propaganda of George Soros. The United States is not an "open society". No nation on earth values it's privacy more than Americans. We don't like nosey neighbors, we don't like intrusive government, we hate invasive press, we despise the paparrazzi that stalk our stars, we hate Obamacare because it's involved in our personal medical care and health insurance, we hate all that. So just what is this "open society"?

A free society of course is one where citizens can tell any trespasser to get out of your house, off your land and out of your country, so I know what that means. But this "open society"? I have no clue what it is, I just know I don't want it. because I don't want open borders, open trade, open marriage, an open house or an open season on the American People.

That's really funny coming from McCain. And who is McCain like? Joseph McCarthy? What a wretched little weasel.