Meghan McCain Praised for Father’s Eulogy: ‘Never Heard Applause at a Funeral Here Before’

During tearful tribute to Sen. John McCain, his daughter appeared to take several swipes at the current president

Meghan McCain’s passionate, tearful eulogy delivered during her father, Sen. John McCain’s, funeral, was widely praised from across the political aisle, with many noting what appeared to be swipes at President Donald Trump.

“Make no mistake: the applause ringing out at the Cathedral when Meghan McCain says ‘America has no need to be made great again because America was always great’ is not standard,” wrote New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser. “Never heard applause at a funeral here before.”

Though she never mentions Trump by name, McCain seemed to be aiming some of her remarks directly at the current White House during her 17-minute eulogy (which you can watch in full here). Trump was not invited, though his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner (along with several members of Trump’s administration) were in attendance. Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush were also on hand to give eulogies of their own.

“We gather here to mourn the passing of American greatness,” she said, towards the beginning of her remarks. “The real thing. Not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly. Nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who lived lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served.”

She spoke about her father’s “fire” and how grateful she was for the outpouring of support from those who “stood in the warmth and light of his fire.”

“A few have resented that fire, for that light it cast upon them, for the truth it revealed about their character,” she continued. “But my father never cared what they thought.”

But the most pointed remarks came when McCain referenced Trump’s campaign slogan, which received wide applause from those inside the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.

“The America of John McCain is generous and welcoming and bold. She’s resourceful, confident, secure. She meets her responsibilities. She speaks quietly because she’s strong. America does not boast because she has no need to. The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great.”

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Tim Baysinger

TV reporter • tim.baysinger@thewrap.com • Twitter: @tim_bays

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