--- title: John McCain Defends Barack Obama in Video From 2008 Election description: John McCain famously defended Barack Obama during the 2008 Presidential campaign. canonical: https://time.com/4866404/john-mccain-barack-obama-arab-cancer/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-20T15:54:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T05:35:47.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch John McCain Defend Barack Obama During the 08 Election og:description: McCain was recently diagnosed with brain cancer og:url: https://time.com/4866404/john-mccain-barack-obama-arab-cancer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa8e35dfcbc438ca/6988d67f196cf416de0411bc/gettyimages-82274929.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: McCain Holds Townhall Meeting In York, Pennsylvania og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch John McCain Defend Barack Obama During the 08 Election twitter:description: McCain was recently diagnosed with brain cancer twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa8e35dfcbc438ca/6988d67f196cf416de0411bc/gettyimages-82274929.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch John McCain Strongly Defend Barack Obama During the 2008 Campaign > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=55eb6f96-e993-42d1-ae03-1714bc16c628&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Senator John McCain Dies at Age 81 [Watch (HLS stream): Senator John McCain Dies at Age 81](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2ow4bkZQ.m3u8) (2:13)  _Published 2018-08-26. Senator John McCain Dies at Age 81_ by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Updated: Dec 13, 2023 5:35 AM UTCPublished: Jul 20, 2017 3:54 PM UTC  Republican Presidential Candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) speaks at a Town Hall Meeting while on the campaign trail in the Toyota Arena August 12, 2008 in York, Pennsylvania. Republican Presidential Candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) speaks at a Town Hall Meeting while on the campaign trail in the Toyota Arena August 12, 2008 in York, Pennsylvania. William Thomas Cain—Getty Images by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Updated: Dec 13, 2023 5:35 AM UTCPublished: Jul 20, 2017 3:54 PM UTC In a widely-circulated video from the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain calls for respect for his then-opponent and eventual victor, President Barack Obama. A woman came up to McCain at a rally and said, “I can’t trust Obama. I have read about him, and he’s not, he’s not — he’s an Arab.” Her comment prompted McCain to immediately shake his head and take the microphone from her. “No ma’am,” McCain said. “He’s a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that’s what this campaign is all about.” McCain continued to defend Obama during the event even as his supporters voiced their surprise in the background. “He is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as Pf resident,” McCain said. “If I didn’t think I’d be one heck of a better President I wouldn’t be running, and that’s the point. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments, I will respect him. I want everyone to be respectful, and let’s make sure we are. Because that’s the way politics should be conducted in America.” McCain [passed away Saturday](http://time.com/5179302/john-mccain-dies/) following a year-long battle with [a rare form of brain cancer](http://time.com/4865775/john-mccain-brain-cancer-tumor-glioblastoma/). Shortly after his diagnosis in July 2017, Obama joined other politicians in his support for McCain, tweeting that “John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I’ve ever known. Cancer doesn’t know what it’s up against. Give it hell, John.” > [](https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/887836712822558720) The 2008 clip resurfaced after McCain’s passing, as friends and supporters reflected on the Republican Senator’s bipartisan spirit. > [](https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1033526138801410048) > [](https://twitter.com/jay%5Fchaudhuri/status/1033533704503738368) > [](https://twitter.com/secupp/status/1033080042425917441) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4866404/john-mccain-barack-obama-arab-cancer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4866404/john-mccain-barack-obama-arab-cancer/"},"headline":"Watch John McCain Strongly Defend Barack Obama During the 2008 Campaign","datePublished":"2017-07-20T15:54:59.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T05:35:47.000Z","description":"McCain was recently diagnosed with brain cancer","url":"https://time.com/4866404/john-mccain-barack-obama-arab-cancer/","keywords":["elections","John McCain","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa8e35dfcbc438ca/6988d67f196cf416de0411bc/gettyimages-82274929.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa8e35dfcbc438ca/6988d67f196cf416de0411bc/gettyimages-82274929.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"McCain Holds Townhall Meeting In York, Pennsylvania","caption":"McCain Holds Townhall Meeting In York, Pennsylvania","creditText":"William Thomas Cain—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/elections/","name":"elections"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4866404/john-mccain-barack-obama-arab-cancer/","name":"Watch John McCain Strongly Defend Barack Obama During the 2008 Campaign"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Senator John McCain Dies at Age 81","description":"Senator John McCain Dies at Age 81","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/2ow4bkZQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-08-26T00:52:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2ow4bkZQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4866404/john-mccain-barack-obama-arab-cancer/","duration":"PT2M13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4866404/john-mccain-barack-obama-arab-cancer/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```