John McCain Book Blasts Trump: Cancer Frees Him To Speak Mind

PHOENIX, AZ – John McCain offers a searing criticism of the current political climate in a forthcoming book, “The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations.” In it, the six-term Republican senator from Arizona writes "a stage 4 cancer diagnosis acts as ungentle persuasion" to speak his mind.

In the book, due for release on May 22, McCain says this is his final term in the Senate and that he is "freer than colleagues who will face the voters again."

"I can speak my mind without fearing the consequences much," he writes. "And I can vote my conscience without worry."

He unleashed on President Trump, writing that he cares more about "the appearance of toughness" than American values. (Get Phoenix Patch's daily newsletter and real-time news alerts. Or, find your local Patch here and subscribe).

“He has declined to distinguish the actions of our government from the crimes of despotic ones,” McCain writes. "The appearance of toughness, or a reality show facsimile of toughness, seems to matter more than any of our values."

In "The Restless Age," the politician and Vietnam War hero also reflects on his life and how he hopes history will remember him.

"The world is a fine place and worth fighting for and I hate very much to leave it," he quotes his hero, Robert Jordan from Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls."

"I do, too," writes McCain, who is battling brain cancer and has been at his home outside of Sedona since last December. "I hate to leave it. But I don't have a complaint. Not one. It's been quite a ride. I've known great passions, seen amazing wonders, fought in a war, and helped make a peace.

"I made a small place for myself in the story of America and the history of my times."

On Monday, McCain's wife, Cindy, tweeted that over the weekend, former Vice President Joe Biden had visited over the weekend.

"Enjoyed a wonderful visit from @JoeBiden yesterday," she wrote. "Such good family friends. Enjoyed catching up!"

McCain and Biden served in the Senate together for more than 30 years and while they had their share of policy differences, they have gotten along for decades.

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Photo of McCain via Alex Wong/Getty Images News/Getty Images.