President Trump attacks Sen. McCain for questioning success of deadly Yemen raid
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump lashed out at Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Thursday, saying that the senator’s negative assessment of a deadly raid in Yemen last month “emboldens the enemy!”
McCain initially referred to the raid as “a failure” but later dialed back his criticism, saying in a statement Tuesday that some objectives were fulfilled in the mission but that he would “not describe any operation that results in the loss of American life as a success.”
The Jan. 28 raid on al-Qaida – billed as an intelligence-gathering operation – turned into an hour-long gunfight as Navy SEALs and troops from the United Arab Emirates clashed with well-entrenched al-Qaida fighters.
One of the SEALs, Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens, was killed. Five other service members were wounded by hostile fire and a hard landing after a Marine transport aircraft crashed near the raid site.
“Sen. McCain should not be talking about the success or failure of a mission to the media,” Trump said in a series of tweets Thursday morning. “Only emboldens the enemy! He’s been losing so long he doesn’t know how to win anymore.”
“Our hero Ryan died on a winning mission … not a ‘failure,’ ” Trump tweeted.
The president’s attack on McCain, a fellow Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, came a day after White House press secretary Sean Spicer repeatedly said during a news briefing that the raid was a “huge success” and that questioning it does a “disservice” to Owens.
Asked about McCain at the Wednesday briefing, Spicer did not back down, saying his criticism applied to “anybody.”
Last week, Spicer stopped short of calling the raid an unqualified success, telling reporters: “I think it’s hard to ever say something was successful when you lose a life.”
Trump and McCain have sparred regularly since Trump began his presidential campaign. While a candidate, Trump questioned McCain’s status as a war hero. The senator, a Vietnam veteran, spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war after being captured when his bomber was shot down in North Vietnam.