Sen. John McCain is “doing well” and “reflecting at the end on a lot of different things” as he spends time at home at his Arizona ranch, according to his son–in-law Ben Domenech, a CBS News contributor and publisher of the Federalist.
“He’s doing well, he’s talking, he’s chatty and he’s walking around,” Domenech said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” Sunday.
McCain is at home spending time with family and friends and performing the duties of senator as he recovers from a procedure related to the brain cancer he is fighting. Domenech told CBS that the family appreciates all the support and prayers they’ve received from friends who have come out and met with the senator.
McCain’s new memoir, “The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights and Other Appreciations,” will be released on May 22.
In a recording NPR obtained and released from McCain last week, the Arizona senator says, “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here. Maybe I’ll have another five years. Maybe with the advances in oncology, they’ll find new treatments for my cancer that will extend my life. Maybe I’ll be gone before you hear this. My predicament is, well, rather unpredictable. But I’m prepared for either contingency, or at least I’m getting prepared. I have some things I’d like to take care of first, some work that needs finishing, and some people I need to see.”
Domenech said the senator has “lived the life over and over again enough for 5 or 10 different people,” adding that he’s had a “pretty amazing run.” He said that right now McCain is “reflecting at the end on a lot of different things.”
“We just appreciate the fact we’ve had such a good time to be able to spend with him in this moment.” added Domenech.
McCain has stayed occupied in Arizona as much as he can. He told former Vice President Joe Biden when Biden visited the ranch last weekend that he hopes the Democrat won’t “walk away” from politics, the former vice president told the New York Times. In a new documentary on his life, McCain said he wished he’d selected former Sen. Joe Lieberman to be his running mate in 2008, instead of Sarah Palin. According to the Times, McCain’s intimates have informed the White House Vice President Mike Pence should attend his funeral, but not President Trump.
The 81-year-old McCain has made a point in recent months to criticize President Trump when he deems necessary — such as when Mr. Trump congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his election win.
“An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections,” McCain said in a blistering statement in March. “And by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election to determine their country’s future, including the countless Russian patriots who have risked so much to protest and resist Putin’s regime.”
McCain has also criticized Mr. Trump’s approach to leadership, something he is expected to do in his book. In an excerpt of the book obtained by NPR, McCain discusses the way Mr. Trump addresses refugees — “the way he speaks about them is appalling, as though welfare or terrorism were the only purposes they could have in coming to our country,” McCain writes.
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