While McCain has been a fierce critic of the Obama administration, he has also tangled with members of his own party, particularly the new crop of lawmakers including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), darlings of the conservative grassroots.
When I asked him if "these guys" -- having just mentioned Amash, Cruz and Paul by name -- are a "positive force" in the GOP, McCain paused for a full six seconds.
"They were elected, nobody believes that there was a corrupt election, anything else," McCain said. "But I also think that when, you know, it's always the wacko birds on right and left that get the media megaphone."
"I think it can be harmful if there is a belief among the American people that those people are reflective of the views of the majority of Republicans. They're not," he continued.
I asked McCain to clarify who, specifically, he was talking about.
"Rand Paul, Cruz, Amash, whoever," McCain said.
When asked about Amash’s recent accusation that a joke McCain made on Twitter about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was “racist,” McCain had a long belly laugh.
"Yeah he defended, he defended Ahmadinejad," McCain said, barely getting his words out. "I thought, ‘Wow, wow! That's interesting.’ I thought it was a pretty funny line, and all of a sudden this Amash, or whatever his name is, is defending me making a joke about Ahmadinejad."
I don't normally like to snippet that much out of an article, but the entire thing is such a delight.
