Arizona Sen. John McCain told ASU students Friday that there is “a certain saneness” to the anti-establishment themes presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are running on.
McCain sat down with Jeff Cunningham, ASU Professor-of-practice, at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and discussed the 2016 presidential race as a part of a video series for the University and the Thunderbird School of Global Management, titled “Iconic Voices.”
“These are the most interesting times, my friends,” McCain said. “You’ll be telling your grandchildren, if they ever ask about it, about this political campaign because none of us have ever seen anything like it before, and I hope we never see anything like it again.”
McCain said the absurdness of the current presidential race could lead to a rise in a third party candidate, or a brokered convention, where no Republican candidates receive a majority of delegates — something that hasn’t occurred since 1952.
“I really feel like we, people like me, probably underestimated the frustration (of Americans).” he said.
McCain also talked about further Islamic attacks on the country, explaining that there may be more attacks in the U.S., but the self-proclaimed Islamic State won't be able to destroy the nation.
“In the words of the Director of National Intelligence before the Senate Armed Service Committee last week: There will be more attacks on the United States of America,” he said. “There will be. That is going to obviously unsettle Americans.”
McCain also discussed the FBI’s encryption request to get into San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook’s iPhone 5c and Apple’s efforts to protect its customers.
“I understand Apple’s argument that they do not want to make their systems more vulnerable to cyber attacks,” McCain said. “There’s legitimacy with that.”
He said the most obvious move for the FBI would be to get a search warrant for the information.
“We’ve got to have some kind meeting in the minds, between Silicon Valley and National Security,” he said. “It’s the same argument and debate we’re having about the rights of the individual and the need to have security to protect our citizenry.”
Despite recent events and amongst alleged “fear-mongers” like Sanders and Trump, McCain assured ASU students that the country continues to be the best.
“America is the greatest and strongest country on earth, no doubt about it,” he said.
Cunningham, who is the creator of the video series and a Board of Trustees member for the McCain Institute, said McCain amazes many with his work.
"For six terms, a senator from Arizona manages to do the extraordinary," Cunningham said of McCain. "He keeps coming on top of the deck, and we wonder why."
Cunningham also referenced the praise McCain has received in the media.
"The New York Times implied that after 30 years of Sunday morning talk shows, he deserves a lifetime achievement Oscar," he added.
Like Cunningham, journalism sophomore Azucena Martinez said McCain's speech to students was enlightening.
"It was an honor to hear him speak," Martinez said. "It's amazing he makes it a point to reach out to student and listen to what we have to say."
.@SenJohnMcCain discussing when he will retire @Cronkite_ASU @statepress pic.twitter.com/EFbBtsTxz6
— Allie Bice (@alliebice) February 19, 2016
Correction: Due to a reporting error, a previous version of this article incorrectly stated when the last brokered convention was. This version has been updated with the correct information.
Reach the reporter at ambice@asu.edu or follow @alliebice on Twitter.
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