GOP Senate candidate sends crass 'cancer' tweet as McCain is mourned

While Trump continues his rolling series of insults against deceased U.S. Sen. John McCain, Republican Senate candidate Kelli Ward is doing all she can to keep up by making outrageous social media posts of her own.

On Monday morning, Ward tweeted, “Political correctness is like a cancer!” — just days after McCain’s death from brain cancer.

Ward’s reference to “cancer” may have been no accident. Her next tweet revealed that the “political correctness” she objected to was the widespread public outrage over her despicable smear of McCain over the weekend.

Just hours before McCain’s death, and shortly after his family announced that he was stopping treatment for his cancer, Ward posted a Facebook comment agreeing with a staffer who speculated that the announcement was designed to “take media attention off [Ward’s] campaign.”

Ward wrote that McCain and his family “wanted to have a particular narrative that they hope is negative to me.”

Ward later deleted her reply to the staffer — but this was not the first time she had insulted McCain.

At a campaign event in April, Ward denigrated military service in general, and McCain in particular, by telling the crowd not to be “fooled” by “fluff ads” that reference military service.

“The last guy that was a pilot and became a senator in Arizona — ” Ward said, finishing her sentence with a dismissive gesture. “You guys make your own decisions.”

Ward is desperately trying to appeal to Trump voters who consider disrespect for John McCain a feature, not a bug.

Trump has been attacking McCain for years, most recently over McCain’s vote to sink Obamacare repeal. Trump’s crowds have greeted these attacks with gusto.

Ward’s tweet also comes after Trump heaped fresh insults on McCain following his death.

First, Trump refused to acknowledge the senator himself in a statement of condolence to the family. Then he prematurely returned flags at the White House to full staff less than 48 hours after McCain’s death.

Trump also reportedly refused to release a prepared White House statement that would have praised McCain’s service to the country.

Kelli Ward may be succeeding at matching Trump’s insults to a well-regarded public servant — but decent people won’t forget what she and Trump have done.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.