Evan Vucci / AP
Carolyn Kaster/Ap
Jim Watson/Getty Images
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Carolyn Kaster / AP
YURI KADOBNOV / AFP/Getty Images
SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP/Getty Images
Andrew Harnik / AP
Andrew Harnik / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Alex Brandon / AP
Alex Brandon / AP
Susan Walsh / AP
SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Andrew Harnik / AP
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Bloomberg/Getty Images
Alex Wong / Getty Images
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette via AP
Mikhail Svetlov / Getty Images
Tia Dufour/The White House via AP
Reuters
Susan Walsh/Ap
JIM WATSON / Getty Images
Alex Brandon / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Patrick Semansky / AP
SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Alex Brandon / AP
Sean Gallup / Getty Images
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Jacquelyn Martin / AP
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Saul Loeb/Getty Images
Evan Vucci/Ap
Saul Loebsaul Loeb/Afp/Getty Images
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Evan Vucci / AP
Matt Dunham / AP
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Steve Helber / AP
Mandel Ngan/Getty Images
KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS
Matt Dunham / AP
Brendan Smialowski/Afp/Getty Images
Scott Olson/Getty Images
MICHAEL DALDER/REUTERS
Evan Vucci / AP
Anthony Peltier/AP
Andrew Harnik / AP
Ap Photo/Evan Vucci
SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
Matt Dunham / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Andrew Harnik/Ap
Jim Mone / AP
Patrick Semansky/AP
Saul Loeb/Getty Images
Matt Rourke/AP
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Carlos Barria/Reuters
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Alex Brandon / AP
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Carolyn Kaster / AP
Alex Brandon/AP
DOUG MILLS / POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Saul Loeb/Getty Images
YURI KADOBNOV / AFP/Getty Images
Pool/Getty Images
Greg Lovett Via Zuma Wire
Chris Jackson / AP
Win Mcnamee/Getty Images
Susan Walsh / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Susan Walsh / AP
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
CARLOS BARRIA/Reuters
Susan Walsh / AP
Carolyn Kaster / AP
Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
Win Mcnamee/Getty Images
Evan Vucci / AP
Saul Loeb/Getty Images
Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/Tns
Susan Walsh / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Evan Vucci/AP
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Mark Wilson / Getty Images
NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP via Getty Images
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Patrick Semansky/AP
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Evan Vucci/AP
Alex Brandon / AP
Andrew Harnik/Ap Photos
Alex Brandon / AP
Alex Brandon / AP
Jim Watson/Getty Images
SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images
Alex Brandon/AP
JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
Alex Brandon / AP
NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP/Getty Images
Evan Vucci/Ap
Patrick Semansky / AP
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Carolyn Kaster/AP
Alex Brandon / AP
Carolyn Kaster/Ap
Susan Walsh/Ap
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Evan Vucci / AP
Ron Sachs - Pool/Getty Images
Susan Walsh / AP
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Andrew Harnik / AP
SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
BEN STANSALL / AFP/Getty Images
Alex Brandon/AP
Robyn Beck/Getty Images
Evan Vucci/AP
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Evan Vucci/Ap
Alex Brandon/AP
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Pablo Martinez/Ap
Alex Brandon/AP
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Evan Vucci / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Alex Brandon / AP
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP/Getty Images
Alex Brandon / AP
Seth Wenig / AP
Charles Platiau/Reuters
Alex Brandon/Ap
Evan Vucci/AP
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP/Getty Images
Carolyn Kaster / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Carolyn Kaster / AP
Alex Brandon / AP
Pool / Getty Images
Evan Vucci/Ap Photo
Alex Brandon / AP
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Mark Wilson / Getty Images
JIM WATSON / Getty Images
Carlos Vargas/AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Saul Loeb/Getty Images
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Ap, Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
John Minchillo / AP
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Alex Brandon / AP
Evan Vucci/Ap
Nicholas Kamm/Getty Images
Scott Olson / Getty Images
Andrew Harnik / AP
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
John McCain does not appear to think that “America first” is the path forward.
Without ever mentioning him by name, the Republican senator from Arizona systematically ripped President Trump’s views on immigration, NATO and foreign policy in a blistering point-by-point speech at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
McCain suggested that the German founders of the international conference would be disturbed by the direction in which the new U.S. administration appears to be heading.
“I fear that much about it would be all-too-familiar to them, and they would be alarmed by it,” the longtime senator said.
“They would be alarmed by an increasing turn away from universal values and toward old ties of blood, and race, and sectarianism. They would be alarmed by the hardening resentment we see toward immigrants, and refugees, and minority groups, especially Muslims. They would be alarmed by the growing inability, and even unwillingness to separate truth from lies. They would be alarmed that more and more of our fellow citizens seem to be flirting with authoritarianism and romanticizing it as our moral equivalent.”
McCain connected the surge of far-right populism across Europe to the fear instilled by extremist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. He noted that a similar trend is finding root in his own country, all while eschewing Trump’s name.
The senior Senate leader circled back to the founders of the conference, and took a subtle jab at Trump’s willingness to buddy up with Russia, and unwillingness to commit to long-held international agreements such as NATO.
“What would alarm them most, I think, is a sense that many of our peoples, including in my own country, are giving up on the West,” he said. “While Western nations still have the power to maintain our world order, it is unclear whether we have the will.”
While appearing harsh on Trump, McCain charged that some of the President’s most senior officials tout very different worldviews.
“I can only speak for myself, but I do not believe that that is the message you will hear from all of the American leaders who cared enough to travel here to Munich this weekend,” he said. “That’s not the message you heard today from Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. That is not the message you will hear from Vice President Mike Pence. That’s not the message you will hear from Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly. And that is certainly not the message you will hear tomorrow from our bipartisan congressional delegation.”
Pence will speak at the conference on Saturday.
Trump, who will not address the conference, has been criticized over his apparent hostility toward the UN, NATO and some European leaders, while at the same time sticking up for President Vladimir Putin.
Earlier this month, the President suggested to Bill O’Reilly that the U.S. is not much better than Russia after the Fox News host called Putin a “killer.”
“There are a lot of killers. We have a lot of killers,” Trump said. “You think our country’s so innocent?”
McCain blasted Trump for the remark, charging that Putin is a “thug” and a “butcher.”
On Friday, McCain concluded that Trump’s behavior actually plays right into the hands of those looking to harm “the west.”
“I refuse to accept that our values are morally equivalent to those of our adversaries,” he said. “I am a proud, unapologetic believer in the West, and I believe we must always, always stand up for it. For if we do not who will?”