Jimmy McCain, son of the late Republican Senator John McCain, has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris following controversy surrounding Donald Trump’s recent visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
He called Trump’s visit last week to a military burial site “a violation.”
The military alleges a Trump staffer pushed an Arlington staffer away when they tried to warn his group about rules prohibiting filming at the cemetery.
The Trump campaign said it received permission from the families of fallen service members to film the video at an event to honor U.S. soldiers killed during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
“Show respect and leave. No need to videotape,” McCain told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday.
“The purpose of Arlington Cemetery is to show respect for the men and women who gave their lives for this country,” he added. “When you make it political, you take away the respect from the people who were there.”
Mr McCain, previously an independent candidate, said he had changed his voter registration to Democrat and planned to vote for Ms Harris for president in November.
“I feel like Kamala Harris and Tim Walz represent a group of people who are going to make this country better. That’s going to move us forward. That’s really what matters at the end of the day,” he said.
McCain’s youngest son enlisted in the Marine Corps and has served as an intelligence officer since 2022.
Three generations of the McCain family are buried in Arlington.
Federal law prohibits the use of this site for political campaign purposes.
The Trump campaign disputed the cemetery’s version of events and released statements from Gold Star military families who invited him to visit the site, saying the former president came to honor the sacrifice of loved ones who died.
Trump — who is running for president for a third time — and the late Senator McCain had a long-running rivalry.
The Vietnam War hero has been one of Trump’s most outspoken Republicans since he first began his candidacy.
Trump has attacked McCain, a former Republican presidential candidate, saying McCain was “not a war hero” because he was captured and held as a prisoner of war.
In 2020, McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, endorsed Joe Biden in his campaign to unseat Trump. Biden later appointed her as the US ambassador to a UN food agency.
Jimmy McCain isn’t the only family member who doesn’t support Trump.
His sister, Meghan, said on Monday that she had no plans to support Trump or Harris.
“I deeply respect the diversity of political views of all my family members and love them all,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“However, I remain proud to be a Republican and hope for brighter days ahead.”
