Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) appeared on Larry King Live after President Obama’s speech. McCain was almost expressionless as King showed a clip of the president calling the ‘death panel’ canard — advanced by McCain’s former GOP running mate Sarah Palin — “a lie, plain and simple.”
McCain twice called that portion of Obama’s speech “an unnecessary comment.” McCain said “it was partisan in nature” and “did nothing to contribute to bipartisan dialogue.”
King asked if Sen. McCain believed there would be death panels.
“No,” McCain said, before adding that portions of a bill “winding its way around here” were removed “which may have intimated such a thing.”
“And we know there’s some questions about some of the manuals in the Veterans administration.”
Actually, there aren’t.
To his credit, McCain did have harsh words for GOP Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, who heckled Obama during the speech by shouting, “You lie!”
“Totally disrespectful,” McCain told King. “No place for it, in that setting or any other, and he should apologize immediately.”
