Robert Delaney

Opinion | Will a tide of McCain mania sweep aside Donald Trump’s political support? Don’t bet on it

Robert Delaney says the love for traditional Republican John McCain is unlikely to translate into action against Trump and his supporters in the US midterm elections, not when Trump has inured the country to his politics of hate

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US President Donald Trump holds up a defence bill named for Senator John McCain on August 13, 2018. Photo: AP

Robert Delaney

Published: 3:00pm, 3 Sep 2018Updated: 7:43pm, 3 Sep 2018

Are the political stars aligning against US President Donald Trump? Many moderate and left-of-centre people are hoping the outpouring of grief in the United States at Senator John McCain’s death will destabilise Trump’s political support. As prominent members of both political parties eulogised McCain at his funeral on Saturday, Trump appeared vulnerable.

The current national reverence for McCain rivals the praise lavished on former US president Ronald Reagan following his death in 2004. In the 1980s, Reagan was the architect of the resuscitation of the Republican Party, which in many ways remains powerful today.

That is, powerful but divided into those of Reagan’s and McCain’s ilk who love free trade, and those who support Trump. The two factions also differ on the degree to which Washington should intervene overseas in defence of democracy and human rights, with Trump loath to call out foreign governments on perceived violations of such principles.

Former US first lady Michelle Obama, former president Barack Obama, former vice-president Al Gore and former president George W. Bush at the memorial service for Senator John McCain at Washington National Cathedral. Photo: AFP

McCain’s death has revealed the depths of the schism and has emboldened more of the party’s moderates and traditionalists to speak out. Ever present in the sustained praise for McCain is a rebuke of Trump.

Meanwhile, Trump attacked Google and Facebook last week, accusing them of building algorithms to favour content that shows him in a bad light and warning them of consequences to come.