Presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg praised late Sen. John McCain Sunday on the first anniversary of his passing, adding Republicans are “poorer as a party” without his presence.

“You know, John McCain did a remarkable job of reaching out to people of different persuasions. He was very convincing to independents because he did not appear to be dogmatic and he really prided himself, I think, on openness —especially with the press,” the Indiana Democrat told reporters in New Hampshire, via The Hill.

“I have taken a lot of lessons from that, even though my values and ideas are very different than his were,” Mr. Buttigieg said. “I do think he had that capacity to see across the aisle, to partner with others. Something that is in desperately short supply in the Republican Party right now.”

“I think they are poorer as a party for having evolved from the party of John McCain to the party of Donald Trump,” he said, referencing the president he hopes to unseat in 2020.

John McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, encouraged people to honor the anniversary of McCain’s death by performing acts of civility.

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