WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama has paid tribute to his one-time political rival, delivering a eulogy for the late Arizona Sen. John McCain at Washington National Cathedral.
Obama said: “We come to celebrate an extraordinary man, a warrior, a statesman, a patriot who embodied so much that is best in America.”
Obama spoke after former President George W. Bush, another former McCain opponent. Obama said of McCain, “He made us better presidents.”
The former president noted McCain was a conservative lawmaker, but said “he did understand that some principles transcend politics, that some values transcend party.”
Obama praised McCain for opposing “bending the truth to suit political expediency or party orthodoxy” and as a proponent of a “free and independent press.”
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11:45 a.m.
Former President George W. Bush has hailed John McCain’s “combination of courage and decency” in a eulogy that touched on the state of the nation’s politics under President Donald Trump.
Bush, who defeated McCain in the 2000 Republican primary, says McCain “detested the abuse of power.”
He adds that, “To the face of those in authority, John McCain would insist that we are better than this, America is better than this.”
Bush says the Arizona senator’s absence is tangible, “like the silence after a mighty roar.” Noting McCain’s time as a prisoner of war, Bush says McCain “loved freedom with the passion of a man who knew its absence.”
Former President Barack Obama, who ran against McCain in 2008, is eulogizing McCain next. McCain’s family did not invite Trump.
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11:40 a.m.
President Donald Trump is spending time at his Virginia golf course while the nation’s political elite are gathered at Sen. John McCain’s memorial service.
Trump arrived at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday. He sent out a series of tweets throughout the morning, but did not mention McCain.
The president, who had long feuded with McCain, was not invited to the service at Washington National Cathedral.
Key members of Trump’s administration were in attendance, including his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.
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10:40 a.m.
Meghan McCain eulogized her father’s death as “the passing of American greatness,” directing her message squarely at President Donald Trump and encouraging others to live up to her father’s example.
Her tearful, impassioned tribute opened the memorial service for John McCain at Washington National Cathedral. It set a tone echoing her father’s own passion.
She said they “gather here to mourn the passing of American greatness — the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly, nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who lived lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served.”
She said to applause, “The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great.”
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10:15 a.m.
Among the current and foreign leaders and officials on the guest list for John McCain’s memorial service are about a dozen from former Soviet states, particularly Ukraine and Georgia.
Both countries have high regard for the late Arizona senator who supported their efforts in recent years to stand up to Russian aggression.
On the list provided by funeral organizers are the current president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko (por-oh-SHEHN’-koh), and the former president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili (sah-kahsh-VIH’-leh).
The list also includes current and former leaders from the three Baltic states — former Soviet republics that are now members of NATO.
As one of his pallbearers McCain chose a Russian opposition figure, Vladimir Kara-Murza, who like McCain is a sharp critic of the Kremlin.
Kara-Murza has been poisoned twice in recent years, and he’s expressed his gratitude to McCain for calling attention to his case.
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9:58 a.m.
President Donald Trump is tweeting out a series of long-standing grievances as an elite political crowd gathers for Sen. John McCain’s memorial service.
Trump wasn’t invited to the service at Washington National Cathedral, where former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama will be among those paying tribute.
From the White House, Trump has been tweeting complaints about the news media, Canada and the Justice Department. Many of Trump’s tweets included quotes, possibly from the news coverage he had been watching.
Just before McCain’s service was set to start, Trump tweeted about the “Fake Dossier, attributing a quote to Dan Bongino, who frequently appears on Fox News.
The president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband Jared Kushner, both senior White House aides, are in attendance at the cathedral, as are a number of members of the administration.
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9:50 a.m.
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are among the guests at John McCain’s memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral.
The daughter and son-in-law of President Donald Trump are among the highest-ranking White House officials attending the service. McCain’s family has made it clear that the president, who routinely criticized the Arizona senator and his military record, wasn’t invited to this or other services this week.
Kushner and Ivanka Trump could be seen greeting other guests inside the cathedral, including McCain’s close friend, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Graham has called Trump’s handling of the events around McCain’s death “disturbing.”
The administration had lowered the American flag at the White House to half-staff upon McCain’s death Saturday, but then raised it by Monday. After public outcry, the White House flags were again lowered.
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9:26 a.m.
John McCain’s casket has arrived at Washington National Cathedral for a memorial service where two former presidents — George W. Bush and Barack Obama — are among the scheduled speakers.
Saturday’s service is the last event in Washington for the late Arizona senator. He’ll be buried Sunday at his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
McCain who died of brain cancer on Aug. 25 at age 81.
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9:03 a.m.
John McCain’s procession has made a stop at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the way to his service at Washington National Cathedral, and his wife, Cindy, has placed a wreath on the memorial.
She was accompanied by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general who’s President Donald Trump’s chief of staff.
John McCain was a decorated veteran who was held for more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He refused early release.
At the cathedral, two former presidents, a pre-eminent diplomat and a former Senate colleague are among the speakers on the schedule.
Saturday’s service is the last for McCain in Washington. He’ll be buried Sunday at his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
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8:50 a.m.
Mourners are arriving at Washington National Cathedral for a memorial service for the late Sen. John McCain.
The invitation-only crowd began lining up to enter more than two hours before the formal funeral for the six-term senator, and began taking their seats under the building’s soaring arches and stained glass windows.
Music played as the crowd filed in.
McCain asked former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush to speak at the service to highlight the bridge-building that McCain espoused.
Obama and Bush defeated McCain’s bids for the nation’s highest office.
McCain died Aug. 25 at age 81.
Saturday’s service is the last for McCain in Washington. He’ll be buried Sunday at his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
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8:40 a.m.
John McCain’s procession has left the U.S. Capitol and is making its way to Washington National Cathedral, where former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama are among the speakers who will pay tribute to the late Arizona senator.
McCain’s casket had remained overnight in the Capitol rotunda, where thousands of mourners had filed past on the day before to say goodbye as McCain lay in state.
McCain’s procession will come near the White House as it travels from the Capitol to the cathedral. It will pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where McCain’s wife, Cindy, plans to lay a wreath.
McCain is a decorated veteran who was held for more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
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7:55 a.m.
It’s an interesting list of pallbearers who are set to serve at John McCain’s memorial service at Washington National Cathedral.
It includes actor Warren Beatty and a Russian dissident, Vladimir Kara-Murza. There’s also former Vice President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, FedEx founder Fred Smith and billionaire investor Ronald Perelman.
Several current and former senators also are on tap as pallbearers for the Arizona Republican who died of brain cancer on Aug. 25 at age 81.
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7:25 a.m.
Two former presidents, a pre-eminent diplomat and a former Senate colleague are among the speakers on the schedule for Saturday’s memorial service for John McCain at Washington National Cathedral.
Tributes to the late Republican senator from Arizona will come from ex-Presidents Barack Obama, a Democrat who defeated McCain in the 2008 White House race, and George W. Bush, who won the 2000 GOP nomination over McCain.
Also on the speakers’ list are former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and daughter Meghan McCain.
McCain died of brain cancer on Aug. 25 at age 81.
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12:35 a.m.
John McCain is set to receive a final presidential farewell, but just not from the current president.
At the late senator’s request, former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush will be among the speakers a service Saturday at Washington National Cathedral.
President Donald Trump was told to stay away from all events during McCain’s five-day, cross-country funeral procession.
Before McCain’s procession arrives at the cathedral, it will pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where McCain’s wife, Cindy, is expected to lay a wreath. McCain was a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
The Arizona senator is to be buried Sunday in a private ceremony at his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
He died of brain cancer on Aug. 25 at age 81.
