The late Sen. John McCain was a true American hero and patriot, Bill O'Reilly said on Newsmax TV.
As McCain lay in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Friday, O'Reilly spoke about what McCain and his six decades of service to the nation meant.
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"Millions of Americans admire John McCain. He was a hero, there's no doubt he was a hero. Yeah, he did some things that you didn't like and other Americans didn't like, on Obamacare and stuff like that. But he's a patriot. And a very American-type person," O'Reilly said.
"Naval hero, POW, saved America in Iraq. John McCain was really the reason for the surge. President Bush the younger ordered it, to his credit, but McCain was the one who rallied Congress and the country to back the surge in Iraq — which turned the whole thing around."
O'Reilly then addressed the controversy created by President Donald Trump's decision not to release a more detailed statement about McCain right after his death, not to comment about McCain when asked the press several times, and ordering the White House flag back to full-staff before having it lowered again to honor McCain Monday afternoon.
"When I see Donald Trump failing to really be respectful, as respectful as he could — I didn't mind Trump's statement. I thought it was a good statement because it didn't intrude, it didn't inject the president into the grieving after John McCain died. I thought it was fine," O'Reilly said.
"But I would have left the flag at half-mast and I would have issued a more detailed statement about the senator's record — maybe not today but down the road — and try to put bygones aside. Try to put hard feelings aside."
Trump and McCain did not get along, animosity that stemmed from when McCain criticized Trump and his supporters on the campaign trail and when Trump called into question McCain's status as a war hero. McCain was a Naval pilot during the Vietnam War and spent five-and-a-half years as a POW after he was shot down.
McCain died Aug. 25 after a year-long battle with brain cancer. He will be laid to rest on the grounds of the Naval Academy on Sunday.
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