McCain demands apology to veterans from Trump

JOHN McCAIN, the former Republican presidential candidate, called on Donald Trump to apologise to US military families yesterday after the property billionaire said the decorated Vietnam veteran was not a war hero.

Mr McCain brushed off the insult, but said that Mr Trump must apologise to veterans who had deluged his office with supportive calls.

“There are so many men and some women who served and sacrificed and happened to be held prisoner,” Mr McCain said. “Somehow to denigrate that in any way is offensive, I think, to most of our veterans.

“It’s just totally inappropriate for Mr Trump to say that he doesn’t like to be with people who are captured.”

Mr Trump, who aims to win the Republican presidential nomination, has declined to apologise for his remarks at a gathering of religious conservatives in Ames, Iowa, last Saturday, when the moderator referred to Mr McCain as a war hero.

“He’s not a war hero,” interjected Mr Trump. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

Mr McCain, 78, was shot down over Vietnam and held captive for more than five years. He was tortured and refused the chance of early release until men captured ahead of him were freed. He was awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his bravery.

Mr Trump has also criticised Mr McCain for not doing enough to support fellow veterans and for losing to Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential race.

Over the last month, the 69-year-old tycoon has shot to the front of a crowded Republican presidential field with an at-times gratuitously offensive campaign in which he also called illegal Mexican immigrants “rapists”.

Several candidates have called on Mr Trump to back out of the race, accusing him of discrediting the Republican party, but he continues to perform strongly in the polls. Analysts say Mr Trump is tapping into a conservative grassroots who blame the Republicans’ recent general election failures on senior party figures pushing for establishment candidates such as Mitt Romney and Mr McCain.