Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is apologizing for comments he made on Monday that Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) reported request to have Donald Trump stay away from his funeral is “ridiculous.”
Hatch pointed out that Trump is not only the president of the United States but also “a very good man.”
McCain, 81, was diagnosed with brain cancer last July and has been discussing his final plans, including his funeral. Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush have been asked to do eulogies, and Hatch suggested the 45th president should also give one.
“He would be a very interesting speaker and would do a good job for John,” Hatch told CNN.
Hatch changed his tune on Tuesday after McCain’s daughter, Meghan, called him out on ABC’s “The View.”
“I’d like everybody to take a collective breath and chill out on my dad for a second — especially Orrin Hatch,” she said on the show.
When Hatch heard this, he realized the error of his ways.
“I felt badly. I had spoken out of turn,” the Utah Republican told reporters, according to CNN. “I felt like I shouldn’t have said what I said.”
Hatch also sent a letter to McCain apologizing for butting in regarding the funeral plans and for suggesting that McCain would not return to the Senate, according to The Washington Post.
Hatch’s comments lauding the current president may have struck a nerve with McCain’s family, considering that in 2015, Trump dismissed McCain’s time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam by saying, “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
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