President Trump hold up hats that read "Make Our Farmers Great Again!" as he walks across the South Lawn before boarding Marine One at the White House in Washington on Aug. 30 for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and then on to Evansville, Ind., for a rally. (Andrew Harnik/AP)
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — President Trump sweeps into the Ford Center here Thursday evening to rally support for Republican Mike Braun’s bid to unseat Sen. Joe Donnelly (D).
But ahead of the event, there was no love lost among attendees for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who died of brain cancer Saturday at age 81.
McCain frequently sparred with Trump on foreign policy, immigration and other issues and was particularly critical of the president’s friendly relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Jane Stinson of Newburgh, Ind., supported McCain during his presidential run in 2008. But Stinson, who described herself as an ardent Trump supporter and recent subscriber to the QAnon conspiracy theory, said she was disappointed by McCain in recent years.
“He sold out the American people on health care,” she said, visibly upset as she remembered McCain’s vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act. “He went against everything I stand for.”
She described Trump as a “breath of fresh air” whom she praised for improving the economy, tightening borders and supporting Christians.
“America is winning,” said Stinson, who sported a “Q” T-shirt and a “Make America Great Again” hat.
Sitting on a bench across from Stinson was her younger brother, David Goben, a retired ironworker and lifelong Democrat who said he supports Trump because he is good for the economy and is “bringing Christian values back.”
But Goben, 60, said Trump “could have done a better job” acknowledging McCain’s death.
“He was a patriotic hero, an American hero. . . . Trump could have said that,” Goben said. “Even if McCain was on a roller-coaster with his decisions — some right, some left, some very far right or left.”
Kim Albin, who arrived with a lawn chair outside the Ford Center on Thursday morning, said she is confident that the wait to see Trump will be “well worth it, because he is taking care of America.”
Albin, a retired accountant who describes herself as a lifelong conservative, said she stopped supporting McCain in recent years because “he wavered in his conservative values.”
“Trump, on the other hand, is the people’s president,” said Albin, 62, of Bristow, Ind. She cited the job growth her community has seen since Trump took office and Trump’s emphasis on border security as reasons for her support.
“He’s not a career politician — he can’t be bought,” she said.
Some of those waiting to see Trump defended the president’s response to McCain’s death, even as lawmakers of both parties as well as the American Legion sharply criticized Trump for issuing a belated statement honoring McCain and only begrudgingly making the decision to return flags to half-staff until the senator's interment.
Bob Slayton, a retired college dean from Vincennes, Ind., said he thought Trump’s response to McCain’s death was “very respectful.”
“I didn’t want to see him gush about McCain,” said Slayton, 73, noting that Trump and the late senator did not get along and shared a similar stubbornness.
Slayton said he “liked McCain — he was a war hero, and he was irascible” — but wishes he had done more to embrace Trump supporters.
Citing McCain’s comment in 2015 that Trump “fired up the crazies” at a Phoenix rally, Slayton said he thought McCain “was the first to rush to the mic to bash his own base.”
“Trump defends us,” he said. “We’re not all a bunch of rednecks.”
Others acknowledged that Trump's initial response to McCain’s death was lacking.
John Brown, a retired coal miner and Navy veteran, said that although he disagreed with McCain on some things — such as his vote against repealing Obamacare — he thinks the late senator was “a very dedicated person and will be remembered as a patriot.”
He grimaced when asked about Trump’s response to McCain’s death.
“He did all right,” said Brown, 73, who served in Vietnam, as did McCain. “He was a little slow, but he did the right thing in the end — and he and John really didn’t get along.”
