Clip of McCain defending Obama in 2008 after supporter called him ‘Arab’ goes viral after McCain’s death

A 2008 video of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) defending his then-campaign opponent Barack Obama went viral after McCain’s death on Saturday.

The resurfaced clip from the campaign trail shows McCain shutting down a supporter who pushed a racist conspiracy theory against Obama, who was then a Democratic senator from Illinois.

“I can’t trust Obama. I have read about him, and he’s not, um, he’s an Arab,” a woman said to McCain at a town hall meeting in Lakeville, Minn., in October 2008.{mosads}

McCain then grabbed the microphone and cut the woman off.

“No, ma’m,” he said. “He’s a decent family man [and] citizen that just I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that’s what the campaign’s all about. He’s not [an Arab].”

McCain’s response was met by boos from the crowd, according to a Politico report from the time.

The Republican giant died Saturday at the age of 81 after a battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer.

The clip began circulating again on the internet, following the news of McCain’s death.

Author Stephen King said the instance was McCain’s “finest moment.”

“That’s manning up,” he said in a tweet.

John McCain’s finest moment (for me) came in 2008, when a woman at a rally referred to Obama as an Arab. “No, ma’am,” McCain replied. “He’s a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with.” That’s manning up.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) August 25, 2018

Singer-songwriter Bill Madden praised McCain for standing up “in a packed auditorium full of Republican bigots” and defending Obama.

He also took a dig at President Trump.

“Something Trump would’ve NEVER had the human decency to do,” Madden added.

I’ll always remember one John McCain’s finest moments: In a packed auditorium full of Republican bigots, a woman w/the mic said abt Obama: “I have read abt him … he’s an Arab.” 

McCain said “No, ma’am … He’s not.”

Something Trump would’ve NEVER had the human decency to do.

— Bill Madden (@activist360) August 25, 2018

Pakistani-Canadian author Ali Rizvi said the clip showed that McCain was “once a hero, always a hero.”

When John McCain was running against Obama, this is how he responded to a supporter who said she didn’t trust Obama bc he was “an Arab.” Once a hero, always a hero.

I also lost my father to cancer and it’s devastating. Wishing you strength, @MeghanMcCain. pic.twitter.com/46C1Iecywy

— Ali A. Rizvi (@aliamjadrizvi) August 25, 2018

Rest in peace, #JohnMcCain, American hero, longtime civil servant and, of course, distinguished veteran who fought and suffered for his country. Two of Senator McCain’s finest moments came when he defended one of his opponents. It took guts to do this: https://t.co/2Gsg84GlL0

— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) August 25, 2018

RIP Senator McCain. No man is perfect but you had more class & civil service in your pinky than Trump’ whole body. In an era where tweets & rallies are so gross & awful, I fondly remember the day McCain stopped a lady from calling Obama an Arab & stood up for empirical truth.

— Stephanie Mickus (@smickable) August 25, 2018

RIP John McCain. *A lot* to to said about him. For now, I just want to remember the ’08 rally where he came to the defence of Obama over claims he was an ‘Arab’ – an act that seems decades old now. pic.twitter.com/CwKKpnwCHv

— Mike Stuchbery (@MikeStuchbery_) August 25, 2018

The longtime political leader and Vietnam War veteran died one day after his family announced that he would be discontinuing medical treatment for brain cancer, stating that the “progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age” had rendered “their verdict.”

McCain was diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma in July 2017.

He survived years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam before becoming a decades-long leading actor on the political stage.