Monday on ABC’s “The View,” while discussing his comments about the wealthy getting an exemption from the draft during the Vietnam War with doctor’s notes claiming things like bone spurs, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said he did not consider President Donald Trump a “draft dodger.”
However, he added that “certain Americans could evade their responsibilities to serve the country.”
McCain said, “One of the great inequities of the Vietnam conflict was the lowest income Americans went and fought and were drafted and hose who were wealthy enough to have a doctor to say hey you got a bone spur or you got migraines, or whatever it is, then they were excused.”
He continued, “I think that when we asked the lowest income portion of our public to do our fighting and dying for us, that that’s disgraceful. Nothing makes me more angry. So that’s why the Vietnam War Memorial also has special meaning. So I was talking about it in the context of the 50 years. I didn’t like the way the war was conducted. I didn’t like McNamara, but I always praised those who served. And it still makes me mad when I think that, if we were all asked to serve, wonderful. But, if some of us are allowed not to because of our income or position or influence, then that is a disgrace.”
When asked about Trump’s bone spurs deferments McCain added, “I don’t consider him so much a draft dodger, as much that I feel that the system was so wrong that certain Americans could evade their responsibilities to serve the country.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.