‘It was a violation’: John McCain’s son explains what Donald Trump did that made him change political parties and endorse Kamala Harris

John McCain’s son is one of multiple high-profile conservatives to wake up and smell the petrified Cheeto dust, following news that the late senator’s youngest child won’t vote for Donald Trump in the November election. 

Jimmy McCain, who just weeks ago changed his voter registration to Democrat, made the revelation in an interview with CNN, during which he described Trump’s recent campaign visit to Arlington National Cemetery a “violation.” 

The heavily scrutinized visit (which felt more like a photo-op), saw Trump flash a thumbs up while posing near the graves of fallen soldiers, prompting swift backlash from military families, veterans, and the Kamala Harris campaign. “It just blows me away,” McCain, who comes from a family of famous conservatives, told CNN. 

He went on to say that the buried soldiers had “no choice” of whether to be a tool for the Trump campaign, adding that “anyone who’s done a lot of time in their uniform” understands “it’s not about you there, it’s about these people who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the name of their country.”

McCain, who himself served in the military for 17 years, described Trump’s cemetery visit as a “violation,” since it would be a “painful experience” for the families of soldiers to see the former president’s behavior. Going even further with his criticisms, McCain said he plans to vote for Harris later this year, and plans to “get involved in any way I could” to support her campaign. 

Jimmy McCain isn’t the only person with Republican affiliations to speak out against Trump, and nor is he the only member of his family to do so. Last month, McCain’s sister and former The View co-host Meghan McCain sung praises for the Democratic National Convention, despite describing herself as “lifelong conservative”, and earlier this year, Stephanie Grisham, Joe Walsh, and John Giles were among a slew of high-profile Republicans to endorse Harris for president. 

Between his tone-deaf Arlington cemetery visit, his flippant minimizing of the Medal of Honor, and his resurfaced comments about veterans, Jimmy McCain has had enough. “[Those soldiers] woke up one morning, they signed on the dotted line, they put their right hand up, and they chose to serve their country,” McCain said,  “and that’s an experience that Donald Trump has not had.” 

For her part, Harris also criticized Trump’s cemetery appearance, saying the former president “disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt”. Naturally, Trump himself has described the negative reaction to his graveyard grin as a “made-up story”, a slight variation of his favorite “Fake News” clapback.