Sen. John McCain appeared to take a swipe at President Donald Trump during an interview about the Vietnam War on CSPAN-3 American History TV, criticizing people from "the highest income level" who avoided the military draft by finding a doctor who would say that "they had a bone spur," CNN reported.
Trump attended the New York Military Academy as a young man and received five military draft deferments during the Vietnam War, CNN reported. One was a medical deferment after he was diagnosed with bone spurs in his foot.
It’s the latest war of words between the Arizona Republican and the president. During the early stages of the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump claimed McCain was not a was hero because he was captured during the Vietnam War. Trump never apologized for the remarks, and McCain has since been one of his most vocal Republican critics in Congress, CNN reported.
“One aspect of the conflict, by the way, that I will never ever countenance is that we drafted the lowest income level of America and the highest income level found a doctor that would say they had a bone spur,” McCain told C-SPAN3. “That is wrong. That is wrong. If we are going to ask every American to serve, every American should serve.”
McCain never mentions Trump by name in the interview, but the President's deferment because of a bone spur is widely known and his family was well off at the time.
Trump told The New York Times in 2016 that a doctor "gave me a letter -- a very strong letter -- on the heels."
"Over a period of time, it healed up," he said.
McCain spent five years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, declining to be released despite being the son of an admiral.
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