President Donald Trump on Thursday morning slammed Sen. John McCain for the senator's criticism of a Navy SEAL raid in Yemen.
The president posted on Twitter:
The president then said the mission, in which American commando Chief Petty Officer William "Ryan" Owens died, was a success.
McCain, an Arizona Republican and the Senate Armed Services chairman, had criticized the U.S. raid in Yemen that led to the death of Owens and others, including women and children.
The Navy's Seal Team 6 recovered militants' laptops and cell phones and are reported to have killed 14 al-Qaida militants.
Buzzfeed reported on McCain's criticism of the raid: "While many of the objectives of the recent raid in Yemen were met, I would not describe any operation that results in the loss of American life as a success," the senator said Wednesday.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer called on McCain to apologize for his comments.
"The life of chief Ryan Owens was done in service to his country and we owe him and his family a great debt for the information we received during that raid. Any suggestion otherwise is a disservice to his courageous life and the actions he took. Full stop," Spicer said.
The senator rejected a call Wednesday from White House press secretary Sean Spicer to apologize for his remarks.
"I don't need to listen to that. My record speaks for itself," he said.
Trump has been critical of McCain before. In July 2015, Trump blasted McCain's time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
"He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured," Trump said, according to The Hill.
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