PHOENIX — The son of Republican icon Sen. John McCain told 12News Tuesday he would vote for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, after witnessing the conduct of Donald Trump's campaign in the "sacred place" of Arlington National Cemetery.
"Three generations of McCains are buried there," Jim McCain said in an interview at the 12News studios.
"It would be four, but my father's buried in Annapolis. It's a sacred place to me personally. It's a sacred place for all veterans."
Jim McCain has kept the lowest public profile over the last decade as the McCain family has endured attacks from Trump, U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake and other Republicans.
The 36-year-old is a 1st lieutenant in the Army who served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has been deployed with National Guard units.
McCain's decision to endorse Harris came after he returned from an Arizona National Guard deployment to a Mideast base known as Tower 22.
Earlier this year - before McCain's deployment there - three Guard soldiers from Georgia were killed and three dozen Guard members from Arizona were injured in a drone attack on the base, near Jordan's border with Syria.
"To be in a place where things like that are happening, and then to come home, and the first week I'm back, this is what I see," McCain said of the controversy last week surrounding Trump's visit to Arlington.
"The fact of the matter is that the United States Army has a rule: You don't politicize Arlington. The fact that it was, is a violation."
Army officials said one of their employees "was abruptly pushed aside" by Trump campaign officials last week during a ceremony to honor 13 soldiers who were killed during the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan.
Trump says, without any evidence, it's a "made-up story."
"These people gave the ultimate sacrifice," McCain said of Arlington.
"They did everything a human being can possibly do for their country. But they also, now that they're there, they don't have a political opinion. So they shouldn't be politicized."
His endorsement could help sway independent voters and the so-called "McCain Republicans" alienated by the party's transformation during the Trump era.
McCain left the Republican party to register as an independent in 2016. He recently re-registered as a Democrat - the only Democrat in one of the country's highest-profile political families.
Here are the other top takeaways from the interview:
Why vote for Kamala Harris? I asked McCain whether he was casting a vote for Harris or a vote against Trump.
"It's definitely a vote for Kamala Harris," McCain said. He describes himself as a "very center" person.
"Look at her track record. She works. She'll put in the time, but most importantly, she'll bring everyone together. She'll bring that moderation, that bipartisanship, that we've been missing for so long. She'll bring it back."
His reaction to attacks on father: Jim McCain has been largely silent over the last decade as Trump, U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake and other Republicans have attacked his father's service to Arizona and the nation.
McCain acknowledged that those attacks played a role in the Harris endorsement. "That's led into this today," he said. "Why I'm here."
The criticism of his father came with the job, McCain said.
"John McCain was an elected public official, and he knew what he was what he was doing... It was in his job description to be attacked," McCain said.
"That doesn't mean that I didn't take it personally and that it didn't hurt me very deeply."
What his mother said: In 2020, Cindy McCain announced a pivotal endorsement for then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Biden was a longtime friend of Sen. McCain's, dating to Biden's earliest days in the U.S. Senate.
Was McCain's family consulted on the decision to support Harris?
"As always, my mother was," he said. "I went to her a few weeks ago, and I chatted with her... The hole we're missing with my father being gone, she's filled. And she said, 'Jimmy, it's your decision.... whatever you feel is right for this country and for yourself.'"
Cindy McCain cut a campaign TV commercial for Biden in 2020.
As president, Biden appointed her to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. McCain is currently executive director of the United Nations' World Food Programme.
Jim McCain doesn't expect to make any TV ads for Harris.
What his father might have said: Sunday, Sept. 1, was the sixth anniversary of John McCain's funeral at Washington's National Cathedral.
"There's no playbook on grief. I miss my father every day," McCain said.
If he were still alive, what would the former Republican presidential nominee have said about his son registering as a Democrat to vote for that party's nominee?
McCain imitated his father's voice: "Good job, Jimmy."
"Forge your own path," McCain continued. "Do what you think is right. Those values are still here in America. We just have to get them."
What his sister said: Meghan McCain posted Tuesday on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, that she wouldn't be voting for Harris or Trump. (Meghan McCain did support Biden in 2020.)
"I greatly respect the wide variety of political opinions of all of my family members and love them all very much."
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