John McCain says Donald Trump owes POWs an apology


After Donald Trump faced bipartisan outrage over the weekend for claiming that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) isn't a 'real war hero,' McCain responded in an MSNBC interview Monday with his first public comments.
Trump "owes an apology to the families of those who have sacrificed in conflict and those who have undergone a prison experience in serving their country," the former POW said. McCain added that while "the great honor in my life was to serve in the company of heroes, I'm not a hero," and that he personally didn't need an apology.
"Who are the real heroes? They're the 55,000 names down on the wall, engraved in black granite that I stop by sometimes early in the morning and when the sun's going down," McCain said, referring to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.
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In his interview, McCain added that he hadn't meant to offend anyone when he called Trump supporters "crazies." "I thought it was a term of endearment," McCain joked. Watch the full interview, below. Jeva Lange
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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