Meghan McCain says 'America has no need to be made great again' to applause at father's funeral

Tanya Edwards

At Sen. John McCain’s memorial Saturday at the Washington National Cathedral, the senator’s daughter Meghan McCain gave an emotional eulogy, mourning the passing of “American greatness.” She also took a direct jab at President Trump and his campaign motto.

“The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again, because America was always great,” the talk show host said, to applause from those assembled.

On Twitter, people noted that applause at a funeral is unusual and praised much of her speech.

Meghan McCain (Photo: Getty Images)
Meghan McCain (Photo: Getty Images)

She also said her father was “a great man” and “we gather here to mourn the passing of American greatness, the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly, nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who lived lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served.”

Some people pointed out that the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband and fellow adviser to the president Jared Kushner were in attendance.

Former Presidents Barack Obama, a Democrat, and George W. Bush, a Republican, spoke about the six-term senator, at his request. It is the last event in Washington, where McCain lived and worked for over 40 years, and part of McCain’s five-day, cross-country funeral procession. He died Aug. 25 at age 81.

Despite McCain’s service as both a senator and a Vietnam war veteran, the president hesitated to release an official statement acknowledging McCain’s contributions to the country. He instead tweeted a short message offering his “deepest sympathies and respect” to the McCain family.

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