Donald Trump has been questioning John McCain's heroism for years


Outrage machine Donald Trump has been spewing controversial opinions nonstop since he launched his presidential campaign in June. On Saturday he finally managed to irk even the Republican National Committee when he questioned whether Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is truly a war hero for his Navy service in Vietnam and subsequent capture.
"He's a war hero because he was captured," Trump said at a summit in Iowa. "I like people that weren't captured."
But that wasn't the first time Trump expressed the sentiment, BuzzFeed News found. Way back in 2000, Trump shared some now-familiar views on McCain with 60 Minutes' Dan Rather:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Rather: (Voiceover) The way Trump looks at it, he's at least better than everyone else in the race, beginning with John McCain.Trump: I mean, he was captured.Rather: (Voiceover) And he flew combat missions with distinction.Trump: Does being captured make you a hero? I don't know. I'm not sure. [BuzzFeed News]
Meanwhile, Trump claimed he actually called McCain a war hero several times in his comments Saturday, but PolitiFact isn't having it.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monuments
Speed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seat
speed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring push
Speed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additions
Speed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein files
Speed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
India rejects Trump threat over Russian oil
Speed Read The president said he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling Russian oil
-
NY's Hochul vows response to Texas gerrymander
Speed Read Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to play ball with redistricting that favors the Democrats
-
Texas Democrats exit state to block redistricting vote
Speed Read More than 51 legislators fled the state in protest of the GOP's plan to redraw congressional districts