McCain emerges as Trump’s top Republican nemesis in Congress
WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain has emerged as President Donald Trump’s top Republican nemesis on Capitol Hill.
Since Trump’s inauguration, McCain has broken with the president on his immigration order, warned him against any rapprochement with Moscow, lectured him on the illegality of torture, and supplied only a tepid endorsement of Rex Tillerson, Trump’s secretary of state nominee.
Oh, and McCain also hammered Trump for backing away from — instead of embracing — international free trade agreements.
As Trump presses ahead with an ambitious and contentious agenda at home and abroad, McCain is pushing back, using his seniority in Congress and his characteristic bluntness. McCain, 80, cruised to a sixth Senate term in November, defeating a Democratic challenger who hounded the senator for standing by Trump even after the billionaire businessman insulted him as a “loser.”