Cindy McCain, wife of the late GOP Sen. John McCain, to endorse Joe Biden, following a report of Trump privately disparaging military members

Cindy McCain, the wife of the late GOP Sen. John McCain, endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden for president,

“My husband John lived by a code: country first,” McCain wrote in a tweet Tuesday evening. “We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is Joe Biden.”

McCain’s support could make waves in the battleground state of Arizona, for which her husband served as a US senator, ahead of the 2020 election.

Biden initially announced McCain’s upcoming endorsement during a fundraising event Tuesday, saying she is endorsing him because of Trump’s alleged remarks about fallen members of the military.

“Maybe I shouldn’t say it, but I’m about to go on one of these Zooms with John McCain’s wife, who is first time ever is endorsing me because of what he [Trump] talks about with my son and John’s who are heroes — who served their country, you know — he said they’re losers, they’re suckers,” Biden said during the fundraiser.

Biden’s announcement referred to The Atlantic report earlier this month that claimed Trump had privately disparaged Americans who had died in combat, calling them “losers” and “suckers.”

When Sen. John McCain died in 2018, Trump reportedly said “we’re not going to support that loser’s funeral,” three sources familiar with his remarks told The Atlantic. The president also became furious when he saw flags at half-staff in response to McCain’s death, saying “What the f— are we doing that for? Guy was a f—ing loser,” according to The Atlantic report.

In response to the report, White House spokesperson Alyssa Farah told The Atlantic that Trump’s remarks were “false” and that he “holds the military in the highest regard.”

“He’s demonstrated his commitment to them at every turn: delivering on his promise to give our troops a much-needed pay raise, increasing military spending, signing critical veterans reforms, and supporting military spouses,” Farah continued in the statement. “This has no basis in fact.”

Cindy McCain narrated a video at the Democratic National Convention detailing the friendship between her late husband and Biden, who worked together at the Senate for two decades. Former McCain staffers, alongside ex-staffers for Bush and Romney, also formally endorsed Biden last month.

“Given the incumbent president’s lack of competent leadership, his efforts to aggravate rather than bridge divisions among Americans, and his failure to uphold American values, we believe the election of former Vice President Biden is clearly in the national interest,” they wrote in the endorsement.