A longtime confidant of John McCain, the late Republican senator from Arizona, has a message for American voters on Tuesday: “Rebuke” President Donald Trump and support Democrats in the midterm elections.
Mark Salter, a former chief of staff and speechwriter for McCain, tweeted that voters should elect Democrats “in most cases” for the good of the country.
“Vote For the Democrat (in most cases),” Salter tweeted. “That feels weird to write. But the bigger the rebuke of Trump the better for the country. Resist.”
Salter, often referred to as McCain’s alter ego, co-authored several books with the veteran lawmaker and served as one of his most trusted advisers for nearly 30 years. McCain died in August.
Like McCain, Salter was an outspoken critic of Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign. Despite his longtime association with the GOP senator, Salter said then that he planned to vote for Trump’s opponent, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Trump and McCain frequently exchanged barbs in the media, sometimes prompting Salter to weigh in. In May, after Trump bashed McCain for voting against the GOP attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Salter fired back.
“I think we can confidently assume that the Senator doesn’t give a rat’s ass what this particular president says or thinks about him,” Salter tweeted.