– Leading the pack –
Going into the weekend, Trump was the frontrunner in a crowded field of 15 candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.
His bold remarks in June about undocumented Mexican immigrants being rapists and drug runners kept the bombastic real estate tycoon at the top of the national news agenda for days.
But it remained to be seen how his McCain comments might undermine his run for the White House, given how Americans as a whole value the men and women of their armed forces far more than their politicians.
Trump attended a New York area military academy during his high school years, but never served in uniform.
Selective Service documents obtained during his 2011 White House bid indicated that he managed to avoid the Vietnam War draft thanks to student and medical deferments.
By his own account, McCain – the son and grandson of admirals who now chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee – graduated in 1958 fifth from last in his class of 899 cadets at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, east of Washington.
On his 23rd bombing mission from an aircraft carrier off Vietnam, McCain was shot down in 1967 and held as a prisoner of war for more than five years.
He endured torture in captivity, but refused an offer of early release out of solidarity for his fellow POWs.
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