trump doubles down on mccain criticism, refusing to apologize









veterans groups have added to the chorus of condemnation against donald trump <u+2014> much of it coming from within his own party <u+2014> following disparaging remarks the real-estate mogul and republican presidential candidate made about sen. john mccain's war record.









and iraq and afghanistan veterans of america:









as we reported previously, trump, attending a family leadership summit in ames, iowa, on saturday, lashed out at the arizona republican and former gop presidential nominee, who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in north vietnam after being shot down in 1967.









"he was a war hero because he was captured," trump said. "i like people who weren't captured."









fellow candidates, including former govs. jeb bush and rick perry and sen. marco rubio, have fired back at trump, with rubio saying on cnn sunday that the remarks were a "disqualifier" for the republican nomination.









asked on abc's this week if he owed mccain an apology, trump answered: "no, not at all."









"john mccain has failed," he said, citing the arizona senator's record on veterans' issues. "i believe that i will do far more for veterans than john mccain has done for many, many years, with all talk, no action. ... nothing gets done."









and in his latest tweets and statements from his campaign, trump touts his record on veterans and demands that mccain apologize for calling those who attended a trump rally in phoenix last week "crazies."
trump doubles down on mccain criticism, refusing to apologize
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