Former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial may be over, but the fight for the Republican Party’s future continues. CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Lee Cowan sat down with Cindy McCain – wife of the late Republican Senator John McCain – to talk about what is to come.
“I still suffer a little from you knowing, not feeling right at times. You know, like,” Oh, who would listen to me, like that, “McCain revealed to Cowan, adding that he knew people were listening to her, she was” thankful “for that.
McCain is well aware of the influence that her surname has on politics, having appeared alongside her husband in public engagements and received enthusiastic applause.
For more than nearly 40 years, during the late Arizona senator’s public service life, she has stood by him – including his two candidacies for the White House.
She lost her husband in 2018 brain cancer. The man who was never president was mourned by several.
“I never thought I would say that, I miss the chaos at home,” said Cindy McCain.
It was “chaos” when her husband “walked in the door” that McCain said he missed it most since his death.
“There was always action going on. It was always something,” she said. “So I miss this. I miss the commotion and … I miss your partnership. And your friendship. And your love. And it’s – you know, you just – it’s day after day.”
With their loss, they say the Senate has also lost consciousness. But McCain is confident that he will find his moral center again.
“Our side is facing to the right. It will come back. It will come back,” she said.
To see how far that political pendulum has swung, McCain said, just look at the ex-president’s second impeachment trial.
Her absolution from the charge of inciting the Capitol insurrection was proof, she says, that the GOP is in danger of becoming a party defined by a man’s personality.
“We need to get over this. We need to. Not just as a party. But as a country. We cannot allow that,” said McCain.
Asked if she thought there would be a division within the party, McCain replied “probably”.
“I know something is going to happen. I know that,” she said. “Or our party is dead if we don’t.”
And if her late husband was still alive for the uprising, McCain said he would have “gone out into the hall and started fighting”.
“I mean, he absolutely – he wouldn’t have hidden,” she laughed. “I guarantee he wouldn’t have gone to the safe room. I’m not suggesting that there is anything inappropriate about going to the safe room. But – just, he was a fighter. He never would have stood still and let it happen. He just wouldn’t have done it. this. “
Months before the attack, Cindy McCain publicly urged her Republican colleagues to turn their backs on the party’s Trump wing – and vote for Joe Biden for president.
Looking back, McCain said it was not a decision she made lightly.
“I thought about it a lot and prayed about it,” she said. “I couldn’t sit around and yell at the television like everyone else, about what was going on, and just complain without doing anything. And so I did the only thing I knew, was to support him.”
McCain also addressed rumors about a possible role in Biden Administration – promising “to do whatever the president wants me to do”.
“If he comes back and says, ‘Look, we need you here, I want you to do something.’ Of course. You can’t refuse, you know, when a president says to you, ‘We need you,’ “she said.
The McCain and Biden families have been friends for a long time. In 1979, now First Lady Jill Biden introduced John McCain to then Cindy Lou Hensley.
“It was at a cocktail party in Hawaii, and I was with my parents. Jill is the only one – ‘Why don’t you go talk to him?’ I think he was looking in my direction. I was not paying attention in any way, “she said.
John McCain later joined Biden in the Senate. Although his view across the hall was different in many ways, his friendship never wavered.
“I saw my husband argue and fight with Joe Biden, with Ted Kennedy and others. But he did it for the good of the country. And that is what we have to do now. We have to do this for the good of the country,” said McCain.
However, she said, “it was never personal”.
“They were best friends,” said McCain.
But his endorsement of the now president was personal to the Arizona Republican Party, which voted to censor McCain for his apparent defection in supporting a Democrat.
“God, it’s ridiculous, I’m sorry,” McCain said of the move. “There are many names in the Republican Party of Arizona that have been censored … I will have shirts made with all names made.”
But she wasn’t just the rebel’s wife – Cindy McCain had a political life of her own. She has a long history of traveling the world to promote human rights issues and, at home, she has been a strong advocate for veterans and their families. In 2019, McCain was an observer of the elections in Ukraine.
She is currently chairman of the board of trustees of the McCain Institute for International Leadership, where she has focused much of her attention on initiatives to combat human trafficking.
However, McCain never had the desire to run for office and says he doesn’t yet.
The widow found her rhythm of life without a wife, rejoicing with her grandchildren and living with her family.
During the pandemic, she and her daughter-in-law started creating recipes for what she calls “Quarantine cocktails” – and posted them on Instagram, where they became popular.
“It really took off, I didn’t expect that,” laughed McCain.
One of the most popular was his watermelon margarita:
- 1 cup of fresh frozen watermelon cubes
- 8-10 ounces of tequila
- 4 oz triple sec
- 4-6 ounces of fresh lemon juice
- 10 ounces of fresh watermelon juice
- fresh watermelon triangle (for garnish)
Lee Cowan’s review – “It’s strong, but it’s good!”
Cindy McCain has a lot to offer, though – a stroke in 2004 left her mobility and spirit in dire condition.
To improve her spirits, McCain returned to the love she had for a long time – cars, racing cars especially – and took classes on the art of drift racing.
She said that returning to her beloved hobby “100%” contributed to her recovery.
“To celebrate something I could do and learn, it just – it meant everything to me,” she said.
McCain faced his fear of saying the same way. She bought a Cessna-182 in the 1980s and learned to fly it herself.
“It’s ridiculous for me to be afraid to fly. So I thought about doing it just to increase my confidence. And at least I’m going to know what’s going on. And I ended up loving it,” she said.
Pain, however, proved to be a more difficult obstacle to climb. She moved out of the house she shared with the senator in Arizona and bought a home in the Phoenix neighborhood, where she grew up.
But Senator John McCain’s presence is still large – chunks of his life are all over Cindy McCain’s new home. Near the fire are the shoes he wore during his first campaign for Congress in 1982, which McCain had suntanned.
“The tanning company wrote me back and said, ‘Are you sure you want to make these shoes?'” McCain laughed. “‘We usually have these baby shoes!’ And I said, no, I want to! Look at the holes and everything! “
John McCain was a war hero and a statesman – and so history will record his achievements.
But for Cindy McCain, it’s more personal. His policy had roots in the family, she says, which is still the most important thing.
And she is looking to continue his legacy – something McCain said she needs to do.
“It is the right thing to do. And maybe for my grandchildren. You know, that’s part of it, too, ”she said. “I want them to know you. Even if they never met you, they never will, I wish they knew you.”
The McCain Institute website has more information on Cindy McCain’s work, including the most recent initiative, REAL friends don’t, which aims to increase “awareness and empower parents, caregivers and young people aged 8 to 16 about online safety and the risks that young people can face online”.