Trump says he doesn't owe John McCain an apology

Does Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump owe Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, an apology for demeaning McCain's war record at an event in Iowa Saturday?

"No, not at all," was Trump's answer Sunday in an interview on ABC's "This Week."

At the Iowa Family Leadership Summit, Trump said McCain - who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam - is "a war hero 'cause he was captured."

The comments drew swift and biting condemnation from his fellow candidates and some veterans groups, who called on Trump to apologize.

That's not how the business mogul and reality TV star sees it. He said he didn't refute the idea that McCain is a war hero (though he did say, "he's not a war hero" before modifying his remarks"), and that he was actually being critical of McCain's record on veterans issues.

"I'm very disappointed in John McCain because the vets are horribly treated in this country. I'm fighting for the vets. I've done a lot for the vets," Trump said. He said his fellow candidates were so quick to condemn him because he's been rising in the polls in recent weeks after generating yet another controversy after he called Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals.

“But to make a blanket statement Implying they were all at fault is just so WRONG! A real man would step up to the plate and admit his error, beg for forgiveness, and move on”.

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Well said.

Trump is saying so many things that the rest of the GOPers were too cowardly to say which is why we need him ....but if he can’t see when he makes a mistake, a big one like this....people will not trust him in the White House.

If McCain talked so what? Any Keyboard Commando think they could take an Asian POW Camp? You break and dust yourself off and take more. They weren’t in a GITMO environment where Geneva Convention rules were honored.
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Outstanding point about the lack of Geneva Convention being followed by the Communist.
I’d say lots of the younger crowd might not know that. But the dems will remind them...with videos of Captured Americans being tortured in Vietnam and Trumps voice saying he likes Americans that are not captured. That ad would crush him hard.

All this is a shame because Trump is saying things that no one in the entire political spectrum has had the courage to say.... now he needs to show a little more courage and discipline....Presidential if you will.

McCain is a walking, talking insult hate machine towards conservative Republicans and he has never apologized. I think he was in on getting the IRS to persecute the Tea Party (wackos, as McCain calls them). He also lies during his campaigns about stopping illegal immigration and then goes back to the senate to offer amnesty to the illegals who broke into our country. He deserves anything he gets as that is the way he rolls. He’s dividing the party and he’s evil.

Trump shouldn't have went there on McCain's POW status nor gave the press a foot in the door to go there with his comments. It's opened a can of worms which I'd say many had wished to have kept put in their past. By that I mean there were many other POW's besides McCain. Many were beaten and tortured to points most of us could not endure or even comprehend for years on end. They deserve the courtesy of not having their experiences re-opened. IOW reminders and robbing them of what peace they may have came to terms with.

Most people today have never seen, served with, or know a former North Korean or Nam held POW. Many including McCain carry the physical reminders forever. The higher the rank the worse the beating and a shot down plane meant Officer Rank was on the ground. They sought their Intel by any means possible.

Nam Vets and Vets serving afterward until Reagan took office were not looked upon positively by media, academia, nor by some in the public. Yeah I can remember under Carter we weren't encouraged to wear our Dress Blues out except after basic to return home on leave or on base in other words just on official business. I remember coming in after basic and making the mistake of wearing them in a bar back home on leave with my cousins. I got out of there quick.

Unfortunately Obama is creating that very same mindset of the day toward the troops and public perception. Trumps remarks as such didn't help matters.

The last man of his word POTUS whom was 100% behind our troops and addressed readiness & other serious issues was Reagan. His leadership turned around a very bad situation as well as changed the world map and won a silent war that lasted from the end of WW2 till the fall of USSR. Many college students and young grads don't even realize what was changed. We have lost that prestige and standing before the world due to continuous bad military and foreign policies.

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