Get real, this is who McCain is. He will never admit to being wrong all the time. Instead he will say FU to the people and do as he pleases.
This guy is as bad as Obama. He just doesn’t have a teleprompter that spews his bullshit as well.
Regardless of all other aspects, if a person has completed their dissertation and submitted it, had it approved by their advisor(s) and only awaits convening the professors who will pose questions for the dissertation defense (which can sometimes run into scheduling problems with those professors), then this is not a horrible misclaim of academic credentials.
Failure to complete the dissertation and get the advisor’s approval . . . that would definitely be an improper claim of PhD.
But if it just awaits defense . . . while not being a simple rubber stamp of things . . . it does not mean the candidate has not completed all work. Odds are very high this person is about 1 hour from the formal documented PhD. That’s not a horrible claim exaggeration.
Nothing wrong with waiting for more than one source.