Accessibility links

Breaking News
USA

McCain Issues Veiled Criticism of Trump's Vietnam Deferment


FILE - Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks to reporters as he heads to vote on budget amendments, Oct. 19, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
FILE - Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks to reporters as he heads to vote on budget amendments, Oct. 19, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

U.S. Sen. John McCain has issued a veiled criticism of President Donald Trump's medical deferments that kept him from serving in the Vietnam War.

In an interview with C-SPAN last week, McCain lamented that the military "drafted the lowest income level of America and the highest income level found a doctor that would say they had a bone spur."

One of Trump's five draft deferments came as a result of a physician's letter stating he suffered from bone spurs in his feet. Trump's presidential campaign described the issue as a temporary problem.

McCain spent six years as a prisoner of war after his plane was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967.

Trump derided McCain's service in 2015, stating his fellow Republican wasn't a "war hero" and adding "I like people who weren't captured."

McCain's spokeswoman didn't immediately return a request for comment Monday.

XS
SM
MD
LG