'I don't want to hear about Be Best anti-bullying anymore': Meghan McCain blasts Melania and Ivanka for failing to rein in Donald Trump after he implied John Dingell is in hell
- The View co-host blasted First Lady's anti-bullying campaign on Thursday
- Was responding to Trump's remarks about late Rep. John Dingell at a rally
- Trump boasted that he authorized full honors for Dingell's funeral in February
- But complained bitterly that Dingell's Congresswoman widow voted to impeach
- Implied that Dingell is in hell, saying: 'Maybe he's looking up, I don't know'
- Debbie Dingell was close to tears on when she talked about Trump's remark
- 'I loved my husband very much. I'm still having a hard time,' she said
Meghan McCain has lashed out at Ivanka and Melania Trump, ridiculing the First Lady's 'Be Best' anti-bullying initiative after President Donald Trump lambasted late Congressman John Dingell at a rally, implying that he is in hell.
On Thursday's episode, The View co-host heaped scorn on Donald Trump for his remarks at a rally Wednesday night, when he said that Dingell's widow, Rep. Debbie Dingell, should have voted against impeachment because Trump had authorized full funeral honors for her husband in February.
'Maybe he's looking up, I don't know, but let's assume he's looking down,' Trump quipped as he boasted of signing off on funeral honors for the Democrat, who served longer in Congress than any other member ever has.
'The Be Best, anti-bullying c**p -- I don't want to hear any more from anybody,' said McCain, who has long expressed fury over Trump's unkind remarks about her own deceased father, Senator John McCain.
On Thursday's episode, The View co-host Meghan McCain heaped scorn on Donald Trump for his remarks at a rally Wednesday night
President Trump went after Rep. Debbie Dingell and her late husband at his campaign rally in Michigan Wednesday night
McCain said that Melania (left) and Ivanka (right) are both 'complicit' for failing to stop Trump's disrespectful remarks about former Congressman John Dingell
'I don't want to hear it from Ivanka, I don't want to hear it from Melania,' added Meghan McCain. 'Until you get him in line when it comes to disparaging people ... when you are disparaging widows and people who have served the country and war heroes who have passed -- again, I know something about it -- it is, until you get them in line, you are complicit in this as well.'
'There is a special kind of horrific monstrosity in [Trump] that does this type of thing to widows,' McCain said.
'Be Best' is Melania Trump's initiative to stop online bullying, and encourage children to 'choose their words wisely and speak with respect and compassion.'
Meghan McCain's mother Cindy McCain also expressed her sympathy to Debbie Dingell via Twitter.
'I'm terribly sorry. Please know I am thinking about you,' Cindy McCain wrote.
Earlier on Thursday, Debbie Dingell was close to tears as she talked about Donald Trump's insinuation that her late husband is in hell.
'I loved my husband very much. I'm still having a hard time. He was my partner and the love of my life, and so I was already having a hard time with this holiday and the comments that he made was just - it made me sad. But I'll keep doing my job,' she said during an appearance on Fox News.
Known for his dry wit, which he employed frequently on Twitter and often at Trump's expense, John Dingell was a passionate advocate for his home state of Michigan and so loved there that even some of the conservative fans of the president groaned when Trump insulted the late congressman at his campaign rally.
Debbie Dingell was close to tears on Thursday when she talked about Donald Trump's insinuation that her late husband is in hell
John Dingell was the longest serving member of Congress and his wife Debbie replaced him in his congressional seat - the couple is seen together in 2014
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Speaker Nancy Pelosi said President Trump's attack on John Dingell was reminiscent of his attacks on the late Senator John McCain and called him 'insecure' for going after such distinguished lawmakers.
'Let us pray. Let us pray for the president. The president clearly is insecure when it comes to statespersons, whether it was John McCain. Think of what he said about John McCain and his supporters just overlooked that. John McCain. Now John Dingell. What the president misunderstands is that cruelty is not wit. Just because he gets a laugh for saying the cruel things that he says doesn't mean he's funny. It's not funny at all. It's very sad,' she said Thursday on Capitol Hill.
The president was angry Rep. Debbie Dingell voted in favor of the two articles of impeachment against him, arguing he gave the family 'A-plus treatment' in the days after John Dingell's death in February 2019 at the age of 92.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said on Thursday the president was at a political rally and went on a 'riff' in front of the 'wild' crowd of supporters.
'He was at a political rally. He has been under attack and under impeachment attack for the last few months then just under attack politically for the last 2 1/2 years. I think as we all know the president is a counterpuncher. It was a very, very support I have -- supportive and wild crowd and he was just riffing on,' she told ABC's 'Good Morning America.'
She added her condolences to Debbie Dingell.
'I would say that I am very, very sorry for her loss and I would thank her and her late husband for all of the service to our country. The president did lower the flags at the White House to half-staff to do everything he could to honor him at her request,' Grisham said.
At his rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, across the state from John Dingell's congressional district in Dearborn, Trump fumed about how Debbie Dingell voted to impeach him even though he authorized funeral proceedings for John Dingell, a World War II veteran who served in Congress for 59 years.
Debbie Dingell, a former lobbyist, replaced her husband in his congressional district. She is close to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who walked to the House floor hand-in-hand with her ahead of the impeachment vote.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seen with Rep. Debbie Dingell, said she is praying for Trump
Rep. Debbie Dingell is close to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who walked hand-in-hand with her to the House floor ahead of Wednesday's impeachment vote
The hearse carrying the casket of Rep. John Dingell briefly stops at the U.S. Capitol on February 12, 2019, on its way to his funeral service
Trump indicated in his remarks - which came as House Democrats made him the third president in American history to be impeached - that he thought John Dingell was in hell.
'She calls me up, 'That's the nicest thing that ever happened. Thank you so much. John would be so thrilled. He's looking down. He'd be so thrilled,' Trump said, impersonating Debbie Dingell while he spoke of a conversation the two had after John Dingell died. 'Thank you so much, sir,' he described her as saying.
'That's okay don't worry about it,' Trump described himself as responding magnanimously.
'Maybe he's looking up, I don't know, but let's assume he's looking down,' Trump then quipped.
Several members of the crowd groaned at his remarks.
By going after Dingell, Trump was revisiting a grievance.
He tweeted four days ago: 'The last time I spoke to Debbie Dingell was her call thanking me for granting top memorial and funeral service honors for her then just departed husband, long-time Congressman John Dingell. Now I watch her ripping me as part of the Democrats Impeachment Hoax. Really pathetic!'
President Trump was angry Rep. Debbie Dingell voted in favor of impeachment
John Dingell served in Congress for 59 years, succeeding his father. His wife Debbie later was elected to his seat
At his rally Trump claimed he ordered flags to be lowered in the wake of John Dingell's death and said he offered up the Capitol Rotunda for his memorial.
But John Dingell did not lay in state in the Capitol - his casket was driven by the East Front and lawmakers stood on the steps to pay their respects. And Trump would not have been able to offer the Rotunda as that decision lies with congressional leadership and not the president.
Debbie Dingell tweeted her response Thursday night in the wake of Trump's remarks.
'Mr. President, let's set politics aside. My husband earned all his accolades after a lifetime of service. I'm preparing for the first holiday season without the man I love. You brought me down in a way you can never imagine and your hurtful words just made my healing much harder,' she wrote.
And Republican Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan said the president owed Dingell an apology.
'I've always looked up to John Dingell - my good friend and a great Michigan legend. There was no need to 'dis' him in a crass political way. Most unfortunate and an apology is due,' Upton wrote on Twitter.
