NBC’s Today was the only broadcast network to squeal with joy Wednesday morning over Jimmy McCain, the youngest son of late Senator John McCain, coming out in support of Vice President Kamala Harris for president. Since endorsements of the Harris-Walz ticket was of concerning importance to NBC, what had been obviously omitted was the arguably more important subject of Jeff Walz, the brother of Governor Tim Walz (D-MN), saying he didn’t support his brother and was thinking of endorsing former President Trump.
“And Peter, Harris got sort of a surprise new endorsement from the youngest son of the late Senator McCain. So what motivated that?” hyped Today co-host Hoda Kotb, teeing up chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander.
“Yeah, that's right. It’s Jimmy McCain, he says just weeks ago that he changed his voter registration to Democrat,” he touted.
Alexander proceeded to gush about what McCain was saying about Trump:
But Hoda, importantly, this is the first time that he is speaking out about Mr. Trump; a series of interviews responding to that controversy over the former President's visit to Arlington National Cemetery last week.
Jimmy McCain, who served in the military for 17 years, just returned from a military deployment in Jordan, tells our Phoenix affiliate Arlington, where generations of his family are buried is – in his words “a sacred place and that that it should be off-limits for political activities of any kind.”
He also told CNN, quote, “these men and women that laying in the ground there have no choice whether to be a backdrop for a political campaign.”
While NBC was excited about Jimmy attacking Trump over posing for a photo with Abbey Gate Gold Star families (at their request), they failed to mention that John McCain actually filmed part of a 1999 campaign ad in Arlington National Cemetery.
What also went conspicuously unreported was that Walz’s brother Jeff had spoken out against him on Facebook. “Haven’t spoken to him in 8 years. I’m 100% opposed to all his ideology. My family wasn’t given any notice thst [sic] he was selected and denied security the days after,” he commented.
“The stories I could tell. Not the type of character you want making decision about your future,” he added. He replied to one commenter saying he was thinking about making himself available for the Trump campaign. “I’m torn between that and just keeping my family out of it,” he said.
In an interview with News Nation, Jeff expressed regret about making those comments on Facebook specifically, but stood by the sentiment:
“I was getting a lot of feedback from my friends, old acquaintances, thinking that I was feeling the same way that my brother did on the issues, and I was trying to clarify that just to friends,” Jeff Walz said. “I used Facebook, which wasn’t the right platform to do that. But I will say, I don’t agree with his policies.”
Don’t hold your breath that NBC will cover him any time soon.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
NBC’s Today
September 4, 2024
8:14:02 p.m. Eastern(…)
HODA KOTB: And Peter, Harris got sort of a surprise new endorsement from the youngest son of the late Senator McCain. So what motivated that?
PETER ALEXANDER: Yeah, that's right. It’s Jimmy McCain, he says just weeks ago that he changed his voter registration to Democrat.
But Hoda, importantly, this is the first time that he is speaking out about Mr. Trump; a series of interviews responding to that controversy over the former President's visit to Arlington National Cemetery last week.
Jimmy McCain, who served in the military for 17 years, just returned from a military deployment in Jordan, tells our Phoenix affiliate Arlington, where generations of his family are buried is – in his words –“a sacred place and that that it should be off-limits for political activities of any kind.”
He also told CNN, quote, “these men and women that laying in the ground there have no choice whether to be a backdrop for a political campaign.”
Hoda.
KOTB: All right. Peter Alexander for us there at the White House. Peter, thank you.
