Cindy McCain speaks about her support for Joe Biden

One week after endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, Cindy McCain, the wife of the late Republican senator John McCain, has joined the advisory board of Biden’s transition team. McCain explains why she’s supporting a Democrat for president.

“Like so many people, I’ve become more and more frustrated with what’s going on,” she said. “Not just with Capitol Hill, but what’s going on inside the White House.”

For McCain, the final straw was President Trump’s comments about the military. “Having two sons who are currently in the military (one in the Reserves), I do not believe they are ‘losers’ and ‘suckers,’ nor do I believe that the young men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice are losers or suckers.”

McCain said that the decision to publicly announce her support for Joe Biden was not a difficult choice. “I wanted to be able to help my country,” she said, “and I realized that this is probably the best thing I could do. In whatever way I can sway people to vote for Joe and perhaps step outside their party lines like I have, would be helpful to Joe.” She said she would like to see the United States held in high esteem around the world again.

When McCain announced her support, she said that she wanted her president to have her back, which she doesn’t believe is the case right now. “Especially during the pandemic, most American people, myself included, were a little bit lost,” she said. “Like many people, I’ve always relied on what came out of the White House, and what came out of our government to be the truth. I think Joe Biden’s opponent has a very strange relationship with the truth.”

McCain also emphasized that she has not switched parties. “I’m a good, solid Republican,” she said. “But it’s time that we take our country back. It’s time that we elect someone who has the kind of empathy, the kind of courage, the kind of willingness to work across the aisle, and that’s Joe Biden.”