Trump sought to ‘sideline’ Cindy McCain in Arizona's 2020 election: report

Donald Trump worried John McCain's widow would harm his re-election hopes in Arizona, according to a new report by the Arizona Republic on the origins of Arizona's controversial Cyber Ninjas audit.

The report was compiled from dozens of interviews and "a trove of text messages, emails and court records, many made public after suing the state for access."

"At one point, Trump personally asked [Gov. Doug Ducey] to help keep the senator's widow, Cindy McCain, neutral in the race, people familiar with the request said. A person close to Cindy McCain said the governor never asked her to withhold an endorsement in the race. A spokesman for the governor would not characterize Ducey's conversations with McCain, saying they were private," the newspaper reported. "Though Trump's campaign hoped 'to keep her on the sidelines,' they sensed she was 'moving in the wrong direction,' someone familiar with the strategy recalled."

In September of 2020, The Atlanticpublished a story by Jeffrey Goldberg reporting that "when McCain died, in August 2018, Trump told his senior staff, according to three sources with direct knowledge of this event, 'We're not going to support that loser's funeral,' and he became furious, according to witnesses, when he saw flags lowered to half-staff. 'What the f*ck are we doing that for? Guy was a f*cking loser,' the president told aides."

Trump denied the report, but three weeks later, Cindy McCain endorsed Biden. And when the votes were counted and recounted and audited, they showed Trump had lost Arizona.

Read the full report.