McCain’s revenge? Widow of ex-senator and Trump nemesis poised to take over UN food ambassadorship, media says

The widow of late Arizona Senator (and fervent Trump critic) John McCain is reportedly poised to become ambassador to the US at the UN World Food Program. A deliberate slap in the face to Trump, or an innocent posting?

Cindy McCain, who broke party lines in September to endorse President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, has allegedly been appointed ambassador to the UN program, according to several sources cited by Politico on Monday. She and the couple’s daughter Meghan are just two of several high-profile Republicans who have lamented the absence of a commander-in-chief more similar to her late husband, John McCain, who died of a brain tumor in 2018. 

McCain’s dissatisfaction with Trump is unlikely to raise too many eyebrows during her confirmation process, though the Republican Party went so far as to censure her husband in 2014, denouncing his “continued disservice to our state and nation” by voting liberal on issues like gun control and healthcare.

Her husband was considered too belligerent in his love for war even by George W. Bush’s administration, which started massive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that have left a lot of the Middle East in ruins. McCain perished of a brain tumor in 2018. His widow reiterated her support for his policies in January, only to be censured by the state Republican Party.

In order to assume her rumored post, McCain will have to be vetted for the role, which is run out of the UN World Food Program in Rome. The Biden administration is expected to reveal the list of other ambassadors at the same time as it makes McCain’s post official, the sources said.

McCain and Trump had an ongoing political feud, with the deceased senator, who was captured by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War after his plane crashed in a lake in Hanoi, repeatedly poking fun at Trump’s alleged draft-dodging. 

“I like heroes who don’t get captured,” Trump quipped, pointing out that McCain may be considered a “war hero” but that he was a “loser” for his 2008 failure to beat Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the presidential race. McCain has also been accused by credible sources of throwing a wrench into the gears of ongoing investigations of prisoners of war still “left behind” in Vietnam. Trump repeatedly accused the former senator of “not taking care of our veterans.” 

The appointment of Cindy McCain would resume the unofficial tradition of ex-presidents nominating a representative of the opposing party to a Senate-confirmed role in their cabinet. Former Presidents George W. Bush (R) and Bill Clinton (D) both made such appointments, and while Trump did not officially nominate any Democrats to roles requiring Senate confirmation, his daughter and son-in-law, as well as several of his election staffers, were either Independents or Democrats.

Indeed, Trump himself was registered as a Democrat for eight years, from August 2001 to September 2009, a checkered voting history that some tried to use against him during the 2016 election.

Even after spending four years in the White House as a Republican, some opponents insisted his attempt at re-election last year amounted to no more than trolling.

More than a few of those observers liked the idea, with some arguing that McCain’s activities in the runup to the 2020 vote had netted Biden Arizona.

Critics didn't necessarily disagree, but found her efforts distasteful.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!