Senator John McCain spoke out against the dangers of nationalism in a speech given at the National Constitution Center during a ceremony to receive the 2017 Liberty Medal.
Here's the video of his comments:
Here's a transcription of his comments:
"To fear the world we've organized and led for three quarters of a century," he told the audience, "to abandon the ideals we advanced throughout the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership, and our duty to remain the last best hope of Earth, for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism, cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems, is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history."
"We live in a land made of ideals," he said later in his speech, "not blood and soil, we are the custodians of those ideals at home and their champion abroad. We've done great good in the world. That leadership has had its costs, but we have become incomparably powerful and wealthy as we did."
"We have a moral obligation to continue in our just causes, and we would bring more than shame on ourselves if we don't," he concluded.
Was this speech aimed at Trump?
It might more accurately to be said to be aimed at the white nationalists who support Trump, given that McCain specifically mentioned "blood and soil," which was chanted as a mantra by those marching in Charlottesville, North Carolina, before a lethal attack.
McCain also took at the "nationalist" wing of the Trump base, which would include former Trump aide Stephen Bannon.
