CNN political analyst Kirsten Powers said Monday that President Donald Trump’s weekend Twitter attack on deceased Senator John McCain weren’t just disrespectful to his surviving family — they were an opportunity for Trump to further emasculate McCain’s best friend, Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and by extension the entire Republican Party.

Powers made the remark during a discussion of Trump’s refusal to back down on anything, which plays well to his base.

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“The John McCain thing is a perfect example of that,” chimed in host John Berman. “He won’t back down against John McCain, who passed away in August. The president is maintaining this John McCain thing months after the death of a senator.”

“Obviously what he said was despicable, it’s so disrespectful to his family,” Powers said. “I think that part of the reason he does it is obviously he has all his issues with McCain, but it’s also a chance for him to assert his dominance over the Republican Party.”

“It’s completely emasculating of Lindsey Graham, who — this is his best friend and who knows he can’t really do anything,” Powers continued. “If he responds to this he’s going to probably, well, suffer the wrath of Trump and have his followers turn against him. So it’s a kind of alpha male move to really say like ‘there’s nothing you can do about this. I’m going to say the worst possible thing and there’s nothing you can do.'”

Watch the video below.