Turns out, Trump’s antipathy for McCain goes back nearly two decades, based on a newly unearthed interview from 1999 with Dan Rather on “60 Minutes.”
At one point in the 12-minute feature, which focused on Trump’s flirtation with the Reform Party, the future president insults McCain, who was running for president at the time, with a now familiar insult.
“He was captured,” Trump said. “Does being captured make you a hero? I don’t know. I’m not sure.”
Although Trump’s comments about McCain are similar to ones he made more recently, the video shows how times have changed ― at least in terms of how voters viewed a Trump candidacy.
Unlike in 2016, the 1999 Trump didn’t make a great impression on voters. One person attending a Reform Party event at the time in California said Trump’s insistence on attacking other members of the party “was very disrespectful.”
Another attendee had an opinion that Trump’s critics today might find very prescient.
“I think he’s a con man and ought to go back to New York,” the man said.
The complete video appears below. Trump’s comments about McCain begin at the 6:00 mark.
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With few legislative accomplishments under his belt, President Donald Trump has repeatedly turned to executive orders ― a tool once maligned by Republicans ― to undo much of former President Barack Obama’s regulatory legacy. While some have been consequential ― like approving the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline ― many of Trump’s orders have been symbolic, like one minimizing the “burden” of Obamacare regulations.
Trump appears to enjoy the act of signing executive orders and bills more than any of his recent predecessors. While other presidents have also ceremoniously signed documents, Trump regularly holds up his work for photo opportunities.
Trump signs an executive order entitled "Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch" on March 13, 2017.
Trump shows the signed executive order supporting black colleges and universities in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 28, 2017.
Trump, flanked by business leaders, signs an executive order establishing regulatory reform officers and task forces in U.S. agencies on Feb. 24, 2017.
Trump holds up a signed executive order entitled "Preventing Violence Against Federal, State, Tribal and Local Law Enforcement Officers" in the Oval Office on Feb. 9, 2017.
Trump signs executive orders, including one to roll back financial regulations of the Obama era, on Feb. 3, 2017.
Trump holds up signed executive orders in the Hall of Heroes at the Department of Defense in Arlington, Virginia, on Jan. 27, 2017.
Trump holds up a signed executive order at the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 25, 2017.
Trump displays one of five executive orders he signed related to the oil pipeline industry for a photograph in the Oval Office on Jan. 24, 2017.
Trump holds an executive order titled "Mexico City Policy," which bans federal funds going to overseas organizations that perform abortions, on Jan. 23, 2017.
Trump has also gotten the opportunity to sign several bills into law that revoked a number of Obama-era regulatory measures. In March, Trump he signed H.J. Res 37, which rescinded a rule requiring prospective federal contractors to disclose their labor violations, during a ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
Trump signed a bill authorizing funding for NASA in a bill signing ceremony as NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson (4th L) and legislators including Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) (L), and Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) (2nd L) looked on in the Oval Office.
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