After news from the McCain family Friday morning that longtime Senator John McCain will stop treatment for his brain cancer, it drew reaction from leaders around the country, on both sides of the aisle.
Notably, there was no public reaction from President Trump on Friday. Trump tweeted several times on Friday after the McCain news, but did not mention McCain or his situation. Trump also spoke at the Ohio State GOP dinner this evening, but did not mention McCain.
Trump and McCain have had a publicly rocky relationship over the past few years. When Trump was running for President in 2015, he said this about McCain losing to former President Barack Obama in the 2008 Election: "I don't like losers." Trump went on to say, "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured."
McCain is a veteran of the Vietnam War, was a captain in the United States Navy and was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for more than five years before he was released in 1973.
McCain said in October 2016 that he would not be able to vote for Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump in the upcoming election. He cited Trump's demeanor towards women, which was just after a 2005 video surfaced where Trump is heard bragging about groping women.
Trump responded via Twitter:
When Sen. McCain's office announced he had brain cancer last July, President Trump tweeted a statement of support to the senator:
Less than a week later, Sen. McCain returned to Washington D.C. to vote on the motion to proceed with the American Health Care Act of 2017, which aimed to repeal much of Obamacare.
Trump tweeted his thanks to McCain, who voted in favor of the motion on July 25, now calling McCain an "American hero."
Days later, when the Senate voted on the "skinny repeal" of Obamacare, McCain was one of three republicans to vote against, thus sinking the effort for the Republicans. A video of McCain's famous thumbs-down vote on the Senate floor can be seen here.
When McCain spoke out in September 2017 that he would continue to vote against a repeal of Obamacare, citing a lack of bipartisanship, Trump tweeted his dismay.
This May, NBC News reported that McCain does not want Trump at his funeral. Vice President Mike Pence would take Trump's place. Former presidents Obama and George W. Bush will deliver eulogies at the planned service.
Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton did not tweet about McCain or release public statements following his family's announcements on Friday either. Each of their Twitter accounts had no activity on Friday.