John McCain 'Respects' Palin's Endorsement of Trump

— -- Former Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain said he “respects” his former running mate Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Donald Trump -- who assailed the Arizona lawmaker's military service record.

“I respect Sarah’s view. She and I have an excellent friendship and relationship and I certainly respect her decision,” McCain told reporters Wednesday.

“I’m neither surprised nor unsurprised.”

Earlier in the day, McCain’s daughter Meghan, an outspoken Republican activist, didn't seem to share the view.

“It is hard for me to watch her endorse Donald Trump after what Donald Trump said about my father’s service,” she said on a cable television show. Trump had said McCain, who spent years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was not a hero because he had been captured.

“He's a war hero 'cause he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK?" Trump said at a rally over the summer.

McCain said he watched clips of Palin’s event with Trump Tuesday but did not watch it live because he had been on a plane.

“It was fine,” he said of the Trump/Palin rally.