Sinema, Gallego honor McCain 5 years after death. But they weren't always so respectful

Politicians in Arizona’s potential U.S. Senate field marked the fifth anniversary of the death of former Sen. John McCain in far different ways on Friday, reflecting their changing views of the former “maverick” and his legacy.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., posted respectful statements on the Arizona Republican’s legacy, though both have histories of criticizing him in sometimes personal terms. Sinema has not said she will seek reelection. Gallego is running for the seat Sinema holds.

Kari Lake, a Republican considering entering the Senate race, only remarked on McCain’s death by pointing to Gallego’s previous comments on the six-term senator and attacking Gallego in the process.

Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who is already in the race for the GOP, did not post any comments about McCain on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

The anniversary displayed a political realignment around a man they have variously described as a “hero,” “crazy,” an “icon” and a “loser."

It comes as Sinema has often cast herself as an independent inspired by McCain’s own history, as Gallego courts the veterans who usually gravitated to McCain and as Republicans remain coolly silent on their former standard bearer.

“This is exactly why folks are sick and tired of partisan politics,” said Hannah Hurley, a spokeswoman for Sinema. “Today should be about celebrating the life and legacy of the late Sen. John McCain — an upstanding statesman and tireless advocate for Arizona — not petty political attacks.”

Over the years, Sinema has changed her tone on McCain, though she has deleted most of her critical tweets of him. Gallego posted tweets critical of McCain on the Iraq War and Benghazi investigation. The other camps had no comments about the evolution of McCain's legacy and how he was viewed.

About 8:50 a.m. Friday, Sinema posted a tribute to McCain with a picture of him in front of an American flag.

“Five years ago, Arizona — and America — lost a hero,” she wrote. “Senator McCain worked tirelessly for the state and country he loved — and we’ll always remember his leadership and commitment to service. Today, I join all Arizonans in sending love to the McCain family.”

It closed with a purple heart emoji.

About 40 minutes later, Gallego posted his own tribute to McCain featuring a black and white portrait of McCain with the U.S. Capitol rotunda behind him.

“Senator John McCain was an American hero,” Gallego wrote in language that borrowed from his 2018 tweet on the day McCain died. “We are a better, stronger country because of him. Fair winds and following seas, sailor.”

Lake, who derided McCain, attacks Gallego for doing the same

Midday, a Lake-supportive “war room” social media account — the campaign account for Lake's failed 2022 bid to be Arizona's governor — posted a December 2010 tweet from Gallego, who had recently been elected to the state Legislature but not taken office, ripping McCain.

“It’s amazing to think how irrelevant McCain is. Only DC press is keeping the illusion going,” Gallego wrote.

The Lake team account annotated Gallego's remarks. Mistakenly using a percent sign to indicate degree, the Lake account said Gallego “spent his entire political career viciously attacking John McCain. Now, he does 180% to pander for votes from Republicans that he DESPISES. Someone should tell #RottenRuben that the internet exists. This guy is such a phony.”

Lake’s effort to keep McCain-supporting Republicans from backing Gallego comes after she memorably distanced herself from McCain’s supporters during her 2022 gubernatorial run.

“We don’t have any McCain Republicans in here, do we?” Lake said during a November rally. “Get the hell out!

“It was the party of McCain. It was bad,” she said to boos from the crowd. “Arizona has delivered some losers, haven’t they?”

Gallego, Sinema have changed tone on McCain

The day after the 2010 tweet that Lake highlighted, Gallego, a Marine veteran who served in the Iraq War, had another tweet hitting McCain and then-Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz: “Now you care about the safety (of) troops? Where were you when you sent me to Iraq without armor?”

In 2012, before Gallego ran for Congress, he tweeted that McCain “demands investigation into Benghazi. Skips 2 hour Intel briefing on Benghazi. #fail”

But within days of McCain’s death in 2018, Gallego offered praise for McCain.

“He called to congratulate me after winning my election. He also offered to teach me how to read. He said he felt a warm spot for Marines but understood that they were a little slow. He then hung up. He got me good,” Gallego wrote.

The same day in 2010 that Gallego criticized Kyl and McCain for the military’s preparedness in Iraq, Sinema, who was then a Democrat in the Arizona Legislature, wrote, “The Washington Post reports that Senator McCain is grumpy and a little bit crazy. #hellowealreadyknewthat”

In June 2011, Sinema tweeted a fictitious quote she attributed to McCain: “Just lost a round of golf, thanks to illegal immigrants and their darn handicaps — John McCain.” She added the hashtag “#makingthingsupagain,” which she used in at least four other tweets critical of McCain.

She, too, offered praise for McCain when he died, noting his “life of service and devotion to our country” and pausing her 2018 Senate campaign for two days.

Sinema, who proudly notes she sits at the same desk McCain used in the Senate, has had a close relationship with the McCain family in the years since his death and has noted his passing each year.

Earlier this month, she invited his son Jim McCain to the Grand Canyon National Monument, where President Joe Biden said John McCain “was like a brother of mine” and praised Jim McCain, saying, “You’re just like your dad.”

McCain's decades in politics were capped by opposition to Donald Trump

McCain died in his Cornville home on Aug. 25, 2018, from glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. His passing drew international condolences for the former Republican presidential nominee who was known around the world for his distrust of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his willingness to use U.S. force in global hot spots.

He spent 32 years in the Senate and four years in the House of Representatives, amassing a mostly conservative, but complicated record in Washington.

At the time, both Sinema and Gallego criticized McCain in December 2010 ― for example, McCain had voted with most Republicans to oppose repealing a ban on openly gay military personnel.

“I hope that when we pass this legislation that we will understand that we are doing great damage,” McCain said at the time and warned that it could affect the military’s “battle effectiveness.”

By the time of his death, McCain was ostracized within his party as a frequent foe to then-President Donald Trump, who mocked McCain’s status as a former prisoner of war and questioned his conservative credentials in a changing GOP.

Many Democrats gleefully ripped McCain during his 2008 presidential run against then-Sen. Barack Obama.

That changed for many after he memorably flashed a thumbs-down to prevent a Republican-controlled Senate from passing a bill that would have helped erase key health insurance changes known as “Obamacare.”

Reach the reporter at ronald.hansen@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sinema, Gallego honor McCain in 2023 but weren't always so respectful