McCain’s Primary Opponent Suggests He Could Die On The Job

With only days to go before the Arizona Senate primary, John McCain’s challenger is suggesting that the 79-year-old incumbent could actually die in office if re-elected.

“I’m actually the only Republican that can win in the general election,” former state Sen. Kelli Ward said Thursday on MSNBC. “John McCain is falling down on the job. He’s gotten weak; he’s gotten old. I want to wish him a happy birthday. He’s gonna be 80 on Monday and I want to give him the best birthday present ever, the gift of retirement.”

MSNBC host Chuck Todd told Ward that going after McCain’s age was a “tough attack.”

“Well I mean, I’m a physician,” Ward replied. “I see the physiological changes that happen in normal aging, in patients again and again and again over the last 20, 25 years. I do know what happens to the body and mind at the end of life.”

“You feel comfortable diagnosing him on air like this?” Todd asked.

“Diagnosing him as an 80-year-old man, yes, I do,” Ward said.

The Arizona Republican has degrees from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and A.T. Still University for osteopathic medicine, psychology and public health.

In an interview with Politico, Ward insisted she was just stating the facts and not making a last-ditch attempt to improve her chances.

Arizona residents “have the right to know he’s an 80-year old man who’s been in Washington for more than 40 years,” Ward said.

McCain, who has actually spent 34 years in the Capitol, told Politico that her attacks on his age amounted to a “dive to the bottom.”

TPM’s PollTracker Average shows that Ward currently trails McCain, 29 to 53.3, ahead of the state’s Senate primary on Tuesday.