Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump Saturday slammed Arizona Sen. John McCain's record during the Vietnam War, telling Newsmax that "he has done so little for our Veterans."
"I am not a fan John McCain because he has done so little for our Veterans — and he should know better than anybody what the veterans need, especially in regards to the VA," the billionaire businessman said in a statement. "He is yet another all-talk, no-action politician who spends too much time on television and not enough time doing his job and helping the vets.
"He is also allowing our military to decrease substantially in size and strength, something which should never be allowed to happen," he said.
Trump's statement to Newsmax came after he spoke to the Iowa Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines, where he attacked McCain's war status and
called the 2008 GOP presidential candidate a "loser."
McCain spent nearly six years in captivity after his Navy plane was shot down by the Viet Cong. He was held in North Vietnan's "Hanoi Hilton" prison, where he was repeatedly tortured.
The criticism escalated a feud between the two Republicans, which started Thursday when
McCain told The New Yorker that Trump had "fired up the crazies" at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, last weekend.
"Furthermore," Trump continued regarding McCain, "he was extremely disrespectful to the thousands upon thousands of people, many of whom happen to be his constituents, who came to listen to me speak about illegal immigration in Phoenix last week by calling them 'crazies.'
"These were not 'crazies,'" he added. "These were great American citizens.
"I have great respect for all those who serve in our military, including those who weren't captured and are also heroes," Trump said. "I want to strengthen our military and take care of our veterans."