McCain on MLK Day: Then And Now

Then:

The year Mr. McCain voted against establishing the federal holiday for Dr. King, the bill passed the House by 338 to 90, with most Republicans supporting it…Asked this week why he had voted against it, Mr. McCain said, “I just had not had a lot of experience with the issue, that’s all.”

1999:

In December 1999 McCain told NBC’s Tim Russert, “on the Martin Luther King issue, we all learn, OK? We all learn. I will admit to learning, and I hope that the people that I represent appreciate that, too. I voted in 1983 against the recognition of Martin Luther King….I regret that vote.”

2000:

While running for president in 2000, Mr. McCain said in an interview on “This Week With Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts” on ABC that he had voted against the King holiday because he “thought that it was not necessary to have another federal holiday, that it cost too much money, that other presidents were not recognized.”

Now:

“And my home state of Arizona, I was not proud that we were one of the last states to recognize Dr. King’s birthday as a holiday, and I was pleased to be part of the fight for that recognition.”

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.