John McCain: Trump Cares More About ‘Toughness’ Than American Values

Sen. John McCain took Donald Trump to task in his new book, saying the president is more concerned about the “appearance of toughness” than American values.

McCain, one of Trump’s most vocal Republican critics, also announced in the forthcoming book, The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations, that he will not seek another U.S. Senate term. The 81-year-old lawmaker was diagnosed with brain cancer last year.

McCain wrote that because he won’t face re-election, he is “freer than colleagues who will face the voters again.”

“I can speak my mind without fearing the consequences much. And I can vote my conscience without worry,” he wrote, according to CNN.

McCain specifically took Trump on, citing the president’s frequent criticism of the U.S. government. Most notably, Trump has frequently attacked what he calls the “Deep State,” the FBI, and the U.S. intelligence community.

“He has declined to distinguish the actions of our government from the crimes of despotic ones. The appearance of toughness, or a reality show facsimile of toughness, seems to matter more than any of our values,” McCain wrote.

McCain urged Trump and his supporters to “return to the purposes and practices that distinguish our history.”

“I would like to see us recover our sense that we are more alike than different,” McCain wrote. “We are citizens of a republic made of shared ideals forged in a new world to replace the tribal enmities that tormented the old one. Even in times of political turmoil such as these, we share that awesome heritage and the responsibility to embrace it.”

[image via screengrab]

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