Cindy McCain to tout ‘unlikely friendship’ between Biden, John McCain at Democratic convention

Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), will work to boost Joe Biden at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, contributing to a video highlighting the relationship between her late husband and the former vice president.

An advance clip of the video focuses on how Biden met John McCain when the latter was assigned to be a military aide to the then-Delaware senator on his overseas trips, a relationship that evolved into an “unlikely friendship.”

“It was a friendship that shouldn’t have worked. John, a former Navy pilot, just released from a North Vietnamese prison. Joe, a young senator from Delaware. But in the 1970s, Joe was assigned a military aide for a trip overseas,” a female narrator says in the video, followed by a clip of Biden ribbing John McCain over carrying his bags.

“John and Joe traveled thousands of miles together,” the narrator states. “The families got to know each other, gathering for picnics in the Biden’s backyard.”

“They would just sit and joke. It was like a comedy show sometimes to watch the two of them,” Cindy McCain says in audio included in the ad.

While Cindy McCain is not anticipated to offer an explicit endorsement of Biden, the video marks her strongest show of support yet for his White House bid. 

The advance clip was first shared with The Associated Press.

Cindy McCain and her daughter Meghan McCain have emerged as vociferous critics of President Trump, with Meghan McCain, a co-host on ABC’s “The View,” hinting she’ll vote for Biden.

Cindy McCain said earlier this year she has “no intention of getting involved in presidential politics.”

Trump first began feuding with the McCains in 2015 when he said John McCain, who served as a senator for more than 30 years after being held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, wasn’t a hero “because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

The president also repeatedly hammered the late senator in appearances across the country after John McCain voted against a GOP plan to repeal the Obama-era Affordable Care Act.

Biden’s connection to the McCain family was on display in 2017 when, on “The View,” he consoled Meghan McCain after her father was diagnosed with the cancer that ultimately killed him. Biden’s son Beau also died of cancer.

Cindy McCain is one of a number of Republicans appearing at the convention to boost Biden. Several appeared Monday night to endorse the former vice president, including former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Trump critic who said Biden can help the country “do better than what we’ve been seeing today.”