Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster, giving his first television interview since leaving the White House, remembered the late Sen. John McCain as a "real American hero" who kept his sense of empathy and vision after the horrors he witnessed as a prisoner of war for five years in Vietnam.
"He always tried to understand complex situations and problems from the other person's perspective," McMaster told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell. "He saw that Vietnam's interests were aligning with those of our country, and he thought, well, this is the time."
McMaster, who retired from the Army as a lieutenant general, said he believes McCain, after Vietnam, also had a sense of duty to ensure that whenever America's sons and daughters are committed to conflict, there must be a strategy to deliver an outcome worthy of the risks involved.
McCain, he continued, leaves a legacy of being a unifying force, despite his opposition to many of President Donald Trump's actions.
"What John McCain did across his whole life is brought people together," said McMaster. "I hope that we can transform his memory, what we remember about him and his tremendous qualities, into a legacy that helps bring Americans together."
One of McCain's final comments on Trump was to voice his displeasure at his actions in Helsinki alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, and McMaster said that's because the senator was opposed to "this kind of sustained campaign of propaganda, disinformation, and political subversion."
McMaster also addressed the president's decision to raise the flag at the White House to full staff before agreeing to lower it again for McCain.
"Wall have an opportunity to transcend all of that and to make our personal choice to celebrate a tremendous life, a life of a real servant to the nation," said McMaster.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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