John McCain appears to criticise Donald Trump for 'draft dodging' Vietnam War service

US President deferred military service five times

Harriet Agerholm
Monday 23 October 2017 09:56 BST
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It is not the first time the senior Republicans have clashed over the Vietnam War, during which Mr McCain served as a naval aviator
It is not the first time the senior Republicans have clashed over the Vietnam War, during which Mr McCain served as a naval aviator

John McCain has appeared to criticise Donald Trump by saying it was "wrong" for wealthy Americans to avoid being drafted into the US army during the Vietnam War.

"One aspect of the conflict, by the way, that I will never ever countenance is that we drafted the lowest income level of America and the highest income level found a doctor that would say that they had a bone spur,” Mr McCain told C-SPAN 3.

“That is wrong. That is wrong. If we’re going to ask every American to serve, every American should serve.”

The Arizona Senator did not name Mr Trump, but he appeared to reference the US President, who avoided military five times, including once because of a doctors report saying he had a bone spur in his heel.

It is not the first time the senior Republicans have clashed over the Vietnam War, in which Mr McCain served as a naval aviator.

During the Senator's service, he was shot down above Hanoi and held prisoner in a Vietnamese jail for five years. Mr Trump in 2015 draw criticism for saying Mr McCain was not a hero because he was captured.

The US President – who is nine years younger than Mr McCain – avoided conscription several times through student deferments and once on medical grounds.

Mr Trump has claimed that it was "ultimately" his "phenomenal" high draft lottery number kept him out of Vietnam.

Yet Mr Trump's selective service records show he had been medically exempted for more than a year when the draft lottery began in 1969.

Mr Trump said the bone spur was a "minor" condition that eventually "healed up" without an operation.

“You know, it was difficult from the long-term walking standpoint," the Republican said.

Mr McCain has ratcheted up his criticism of the US leadership in recent months, lambasting the rise of "half-baked, spurious nationalism" since Mr Trump became President.

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