NEW YORK: President Donald Trump was not invited to the funeral of Senator John McCain, but his name did not escape mention nevertheless as the late lawmaker’s daughter came down hard on him in her speech. Meghan McCain reminded the president that “America was always great” — a dig at Donald Trump’s slogan, “Make America great again”.

The most biting part of Meghan’s eulogy for her father during Saturday’s memorial came when she went straight for the slogan. “The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great,” she said in her speech, punctuating it with repeated jabs at Trump.

People in the room applauded her and the social media went delirious. A number of TV channels speculated that McCain, who never thought much of Trump, had himself given tips to his daughter about the remarks against the president days before his death.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2018