"Enter the arena and fight": Cindy McCain urges the support of the think tank named after her late husband



[ad_1]


Cindy McCain peeks at the hearse carrying her husband's coffin before leaving the memorial service for Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) At Washington's National Cathedral on September 1st. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP)

In her most important comments since the death of her husband, Cindy McCain urges Americans to "enter the arena and fight" and support a think tank named after the late Senator John McCain (R-Ariz. ).

"The McCain Institute for International Leadership is now my home and my mission," writes Cindy McCain. an editorial published Friday morning at USA Today. "With your support, we will pay for his legacy."

In her article, McCain said the Institute will strive to fulfill her husband's mission of "serving a greater cause than us," a theme that was highlighted at last week's memorial service.

The institute, based in Washington and affiliated with Arizona State University, was created in 2012 with a donation of $ 8.7 million in unused funds from John McCain's presidential campaign in 2008.

His fundraising practices sparked controversy in 2016 after a report that the Saudi government donated $ 1 million to the non-profit organization.

The senator sought to distance himself from the institute after the report, telling reporters: "I am proud that the institute bears my name, but I have nothing to do with it – except that they use my name ".

A spokeswoman later explained that McCain intended to say that he had no connection with the Saudi gift.

The Institute's mission statement states that it is "guided by the values ​​that have animated" McCain's career and his family. It has organized an internship program and organizes events on topics such as trafficking in human beings and national security.

McCain died on August 25 after a long fight against brain cancer.

"John McCain has fought for others every day of his life, whether he is wearing a uniform or is on the floor of the US Senate," Cindy McCain wrote in his editorial.

"With her passing, America realized that this was the kind of leadership we want. That's the kind of country we want to be, "she said. "And it's now up to us – all of us – to enter the arena and beat us."

Michelle Ye Hee Lee contributed to this report.

[ad_2]
Source link