In an impassioned eulogy for her father, six-term Arizona senator John McCain, Meghan McCain delivered several blows to sitting President Donald Trump, who was not invited to the beloved senator’s funeral.
While other speakers, such as former president Barack Obama, kept their inferences to the current administration vague, McCain wasn’t shy in demonstrating her distaste for Trump and the bombastic narrative that often surrounds his team.
WATCH: John McCain funeral: Meghan McCain honours father at funeral service in Washington, D.C.
“We gather here to mourn the passing of American greatness — the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly, nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who lived lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served,” McCain said, her voice cracking as she choked back tears.
McCain went even further in another clear swipe at Trump, saying that some people resented her father for revealing truths about their own characters.
WATCH: John McCain funeral: Meghan McCain weeps over father’s casket
“Few resented that fire, for that light it cast upon them, for the truth that is revealed about their character. But, my father never cared what they thought, and even that small number still have the opportunity as long as they draw breath to live up to the example of John McCain,” she continued.
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Senator McCain and President Trump had battled on the Senate floor on and off since the former Apprentice star and real estate mogul took office in 2017.
The most notorious of these battles was McCain’s stunning thumbs-down on Trump’s attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, a move which effectively torpedoed the bill.
WATCH: Current president Donald Trump wasn’t invited to the memorial, but his rocky relationship with McCain wasn’t overlooked. Ines de La Cuetara reports.
McCain, a long-standing opponent of Obamacare, returned from cancer treatments to enter his vote and cited the lack of a clear replacement for the health-care plan as his reasoning. He entered the Senate on the day of the vote to a rousing applause from both Democrats and Republicans.
Meghan McCain discussed the many faces of the senator during her speech, saying at one point that the most important role he played was as a father.
“I am here before you today saying the words I have never wanted to say, giving a speech I have never wanted to give, feeling the loss I have never wanted to feel. My father is gone,” she said.
The dignitaries in attendance throughout the two-and-a-half-hour service included three former presidents as well as former secretaries of state and members of the House and Senate. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner also attended.
In their speeches, former presidents Obama and George W. Bush each described McCain as a hero and made veiled pleas with the American people to follow his example of bipartisanship over that of the current administration.
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John McCain funeral: Senator’s casket is carried out of Washington National Cathedral -
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John McCain funeral: Senator Lindsey Graham reads Bible passage -
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John McCain funeral: Barack Obama delivers rebuke of ‘small, mean and petty’ politics -
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John McCain funeral: Barack Obama recalls senator defending him during 2008 presidential campaign -
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John McCain funeral: Barack Obama recalls senator’s ‘mischievous streak’ in tribute -
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John McCain funeral: Former President George W. Bush delivers eulogy -
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John McCain funeral: Henry Kissinger honours senator at funeral in Washington, D.C. -
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John McCain funeral: Senator’s casket brought into Washington National Cathedral -
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John McCain funeral: Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton arrive at Washington National Cathedral -
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John McCain funeral: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner attend service for -
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John McCain funeral: Cindy McCain honours senator at Vietnam Veterans Memorial -
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John McCain funeral: Funeral procession for senator in Washington, D.C. -
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John McCain funeral: Senator’s casket leaves the U.S. Capitol -
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John McCain funeral: Rudy Guliani and John Kasich pay respects at U.S. Capitol -
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John McCain funeral: Actors Warren Beatty and Annette Bening visit senator’s casket during memorial
“So much of our politics, our public life, our public discourse can seem small and mean and petty, trafficking in bombast and insult and phony controversies and manufactured outrage,” Obama said.
“We are better than this, America is better than this,” Bush lamented.
Near the end of her speech, McCain declared to loud bursts of applause that, “the America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great.”
–With files from the Associated Press.
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