Republican senator plans to denounce Trump’s attacks on McCain

20 MAR 19 10:46 ET

By Devan Cole and Ted Barrett, CNN

(CNN) — Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson is planning to deliver a “whipping” against President Donald Trump on Wednesday in response to the President’s recent attacks on the late Sen. John McCain, The Bulwark reported.

In the wake of McCain’s death last year, Isakson, who represents Georgia, gave a Senate speech at the time that said “anybody who in any way tarnishes the reputation of John McCain deserves a whipping because most of those who would do the wrong thing about John McCain didn’t have the guts to do the right thing when it was their turn.”

According to the outlet, Isakson said in an interview Tuesday that “I want to do what I said that day on the floor of the Senate.”

“I just want to lay it on the line, that the country deserves better, the McCain family deserves better, I don’t care if he’s President of United States, owns all the real estate in New York, or is building the greatest immigration system in the world. Nothing is more important than the integrity of the country and those who fought and risked their lives for all of us,” Isakson said, according to The Bulwark’s Wednesday report.

Isakson’s office has not clarified what Isakson’s specific plans are Wednesday.

Isakson has previously made clear his reluctance to criticize Trump.

“I’m not going to answer the question the way it was phrased Because the (headline) would be, ‘Isakson supports rebuking the President,’ and I’m not going to do that,” Isakson said last week ahead of Senate votes aimed at rebuking the President. “Any way that I answer your questions is going to engage me in that line of thinking and I don’t want to be on either side of it. I want us to get the job done for the people we represent and not fool around with a bunch of political fights that make good headlines but don’t make any good policies.”

Last weekend, Trump attacked the late senator in several tweets that targeted McCain’s ties to the controversial Russia dossier and his vote against repealing Obamacare. He also referred to McCain as being “last in his class” at the US Naval Academy.

On Tuesday, he continued his criticism of McCain, telling reporters at the White House that “I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be.”

Isakson told The Bulwark, a news outlet from the conservative Defending Democracy Together Institute, that the President’s comments “drive me crazy” and that “nobody — regardless of their position — is above common decency and respect for people that risk their life for your life.”