Arizona Senator John McCain reluctant
to discuss his children's views on “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the
17-year-old law that bans gay and bisexual troops from serving
openly.
House
members voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday in favor of repeal and
Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday announced he'll bring the
measure up for a vote on Saturday.
McCain has twice before led opposition
to the bill, but a standalone version of repeal has gained traction
among fellow Republicans.
In an MSNBC interview broadcast on
Wednesday, McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, said she backed repeal
of the law.
“I think it's my generation's civil
rights issue,” she told The Last Word's Lawrence O'Donnell.
Senator McCain, however, wasn't talking
about his daughter's position on the issue during a CNN interview the
following day.
“I'm very reluctant to discuss my
children's views,” McCain responded when asked by John King what
his son Jimmy McCain, who served with the Marine Corps in Iraq,
thought about repeal.
“His words to me, as so many
thousands of others' words have been to me, 'It isn't broke, don't
fix it,'” McCain said.
On the program, McCain also reiterated
his opposition to repeal: “We're in two wars, and I believe that
right now would not be the right time to repeal it. That's my
position and I will hold it.” (The video is embedded in the right
panel of this page.)
After appearing in a video for a group
that supports repeal of the law, Cindy
McCain denied she disagreed with her husband on the law.