Trump not welcome at McCain’s All-America farewell

Two former presidents are expected to speak at John McCain’s funeral service but the incumbent is not invited.

Flags fly at half-mast for John McCain in Washington yesterday. Picture: AFP

Two former presidents are expected to speak at John McCain’s service and he will lie in state in both the nation’s capital and Arizona as part of a cross-country funeral procession.

Vice-President Mike Pence is likely to attend after family members asked that President Donald Trump not attend the funeral service, which will end with a burial at the US Naval Academy.

A day after Senator McCain died of brain cancer at 81, his family, friends and congressional and state leaders were working out ­details of the farewell to the decorated Vietnam War hero, prisoner of war and six-term senator.

His office said he would lie in state in the Arizona State Capitol tomorrow before his funeral in Phoenix on Thursday, with former Democrat vice-president Joe Biden speaking.

Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama are among those expected to speak when the procession moves to the Washington National Cathedral on Saturday and McCain lies in state in the US Capitol, an honour accorded to notable Americans, including presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, and civil rights champion Rosa Parks.

Fellow Arizona Republican senator Jeff Flake spoke of the significance of Mr Bush and Mr Obama — both of whom blocked Senator McCain’s own White House ambitions — speaking at his Washington funeral.

“These were bitter contests, both of them,” Senator Flake said.

“To ask them to speak at your funeral, and for them to be honoured at the opportunity, that tells you all you need to know.”

Senator McCain died at his Arizona farm after a year-long battle with brain cancer. A black hearse, accompanied by a police motorcade, could be seen driving away from the farm where he had spent his final weeks. For many kilometres along Arizona’s Interstate 17 southbound, on every overpass and at every exit ramp, people watched the procession. Hundreds, including many waving American flags, parked their cars and got out to watch.

Congressional leaders announced Senator McCain would lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda.

“The nation mourns the loss of a great American patriot, a statesman who put his country first and enriched this institution through many years of service,” Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said as other tributes poured in from around the globe.

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted in English that Senator McCain “was a true American hero. He devoted his entire life to his country.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Senator McCain’s support for the Jewish state “never wavered. It sprang from his belief in democracy and freedom.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called him “a tireless fighter for a strong transatlantic ­alliance. His significance went well beyond his own country.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May said he “embodied the idea of service over self”.

Hillary Clinton was among those who highlighted Senator McCain’s “country-first” bipartisan approach on matters of international importance. “Our institutions are being severely tested right now, including his beloved Senate,” Mrs Clinton said. “He was, in every way he knew how, trying to sound the alarm.”

AP, The Times