President Trump, rebuked for attacking John McCain, complains he didn't get 'thank you' for his funeral
President Donald Trump, already facing widespread rebuke for his attack on Sen. John McCain, stepped up his criticism in a speech on Wednesday in Ohio, at one point, sounding annoyed, saying "I gave him the kind of funeral that he wanted —- which as president I had to approve. I don't care about this. I didn't get a thank you. That's okay."
"We sent him on the way, Trump continued, "But I wasn’t a fan of John McCain.”
In the speech at a tank plant in Lima, Ohio, Trump claimed that McCain hadn't properly advocated for veterans --"he didn't get the job done" -- and said veterans were "on his side."
And he once again angrily recounted how he felt betrayed when McCain voted against repealing Obamacare.
“Not my kind of guy,” Trump said as the audience of union plant workers listened quietly. “But some people like him and I think that's great.”
Trump came to the Buckeye State Wednesday to tout the economy and tour a manufacturing facility where the M1 Abrams tank has been produced for nearly 40 years.
The Lima plant is the last facility that even makes tanks in the Western Hemisphere - and the president took a victory lap after reviving the plant that nearly closed during the Obama administration.
“Well, you better love me, I kept this place open,” Trump said. “They said: 'We're closing it' and I said: 'No. we are not.' And now, you're doing record business -- the job you do is incredible.”
But judging by his remarks, the president continued to be distracted -- going after McCain -- one of his top GOP rivals -- even though he has been dead for nearly seven months.
"Now let's get back and let's get on to the subject of tanks and the economy because you know what we love where we are,” Trump said when he was done blasting the senator from Arizona.
"Under the previous administration the tank factory, the last of its kind anywhere in the Western hemisphere came very close to shutting down. Four straight years the number of U.S. tanks that were budgeted was zero. Does anyone remember that? Raise your hands? Zero. That was under your great President Obama.”
As part of his defense budgets for 2019 and 2020, the president has requested $11 billion to buy Abrams tanks, as well as the Stryker combat vehicle, also manufactured at the Lima plant.
“Our military readiness declined and our workforce was slashed by 60 percent but those days are over we are rebuildign the American military,” Trump said. “We are restoring American manufacturing. And we are once again fighting for our great American workers.”
