Trump’s Disparagement of Arizona Icon John McCain Could Haunt Him in November. Again.

MESA, Ariz. ― If Donald Trump loses Arizona next month, he can probably thank, yet again, his own insults and disparagement of state icon John McCain over the past decade.

The longtime U.S. senator and onetime Republican presidential nominee, who died of brain cancer six years ago, retains a loyal following of old-line Republican voters, many of whom flipped to support President Joe Biden four years ago, making him the first Democrat to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1996.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign appears to believe she has a good chance of repeating Biden’s victory. Harris; her husband, Doug Emhoff; running mate Tim Walz; and first lady Jill Biden are swarming the state, where early voting began Wednesday.

And unlike 2016 and 2020, when Democratic nominees Hillary Clinton and Biden attracted Republican support more or less organically, the 2024 Democratic effort has an organized operation specifically to persuade Republicans in Arizona, particularly fans of McCain, to affirmatively vote for Harris.

“There’s nothing more conservative than putting country over party,” Emhoff told several dozen Republicans for Harris volunteers who were gathered Tuesday afternoon ahead of an evening of phone banking, using the phrase McCain himself used as Harris’ campaign seeks GOP votes across the country.

“Our democracy, our Constitution, our rule of law, our very way of life, our economic future, our freedoms. This is all on the line, and you all recognize that. And it’s not enough to just say you’re not going to support Donald Trump. That’s not good enough,” Emhoff said.

Introducing Emhoff in the single-story home in a new subdivision of the sprawling suburb was the mayor of Mesa, John Giles, who this summer was