Candidate: McCain timed announcement to hurt her
U.S. Senate hopeful faces criticism for Facebook post
Kelli Ward, a U.S. Senate hopeful and a onetime rival of Sen. John McCain, is facing a torrent of criticism after she appeared to suggest that his announcement Friday to halt medical treatment for his brain cancer was timed to hurt her campaign.
One of Ward’s staffers on Saturday wrote a Facebook post wondering whether the statement from McCain’s family, made on the same day that Ward’s statewide bus tour kicked off, was simply a coincidence or a tactic “to take media attention off her campaign.”
Ward did not dispute the notion and said in reply: “I think they wanted to have a particular narrative that they hope is negative to me.”
McCain died just hours after Ward’s Facebook comments.
Ward, who is seeking the GOP nomination to replace U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., has made controversial comments about McCain in the past.
Her press staff didn’t respond to calls seeking comment Sunday. Her comment, which appears to have been written from her personal Facebook page, and the staffer’s post have either been deleted or are no longer publicly visible. But Aaron Borders, an Arizona lobbyist, shared images of the exchange on his Facebook page Saturday.
Borders said that he was initially rooting for Ward, whom he knows personally, but that the campaign’s undisciplined messaging has appalled him. “You shouldn’t be saying any of this. Leave it alone. (McCain’s) not even an opponent,” Borders said.
In a follow-up comment, Ward said it’s the media that is creating a negative narrative about her, not the McCains.
“The media loves a narrative. I’ve said again and again to pray for Senator McCain & his family. These decisions are terrible to have to make. I feel compassion for him and his family as they go through this ... The media, the left, and the Establishment have the agenda. They’ve been attacking me over fake stories for a year on this issue. I ran against McCain. I don’t agree with his voting record and rhetoric. I pray for him as a man who is suffering,” Ward wrote.
That comment also was deleted.