EJ Montini

opinion columnist



A few days ago Sen. John McCain reacted strongly to President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the murderous Vladimir Putin and Russia were the moral equivalent to the United States.

Sounding like an apologist after Fox News' Bill O'Reilly said to him, "Putin's a killer," Trump said, “We've got a lot of killers ... What, you think our country’s so innocent?"

An angry McCain responded during a speech about the alleged recent poisoning of Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza.

The senator said that Kara-Murza "knew that there was no moral equivalence between the United States and Putin's Russia. I repeat, there is no moral equivalence between that butcher and thug and KGB colonel and the United States of America, the country that Ronald Reagan used to call a shining city on a hill. To allege some kind of moral equivalence between the two is either terribly misinformed or incredibly biased. Neither, neither can be accurate in anyway."

So, OF COURSE Trump took to Twitter

You knew Trump was going to bite back.

And he has. In his preferred manner: First sending in his press secretary/attack dog then firing off a series of tweets.

Speaking of a Navy SEALs mission in Yemen that left one American dead McCain had issued a statement saying, "While many of the objectives of the recent raid in Yemen were met, I would not describe any operation that results in the loss of American life as a success.”

Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer said, "It's absolutely a success, and I think anyone who would suggest it's not a success does disservice to the life of Chief Ryan Owens.”

Then on Thursday morning Trump went into Twitter rant saying in three tweets:

McCain was ready for the attack.

McCain's lesson: Fear not, but prepare

He issued a statement reading:

"Many years ago, when I was imprisoned in North Vietnam, there was an attempt to rescue the POWs. Unfortunately, the prison had been evacuated, but the brave men who...risked their lives in an effort to rescue us prisoners of war were genuine American heroes.

"Because the mission failed, (it) did not in any way diminish their bravery and courage or willingness to help their fellow Americans who were held captive. Mr. Spicer should know that story."

Benson: Morally equivalent? Only in the swamp

It’s going to be this way with Trump.

He wants any elected official who criticizes him to know that he’s going to use the full weight of the presidency to crush them. It’s a way to stifle dissent of any kind.

McCain just provided the template for fighting back.

Don’t be afraid.

Be prepared.