MY FORMER OPPONENT AND WILL BE
MY PRESIDENT.
>> AND WILL BE MY PRESIDENT.
JOINING ME NOW, MARK SALTER, THE
MAN WHO WROTE THAT SPEECH.
FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO THE
TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND SO MUCH MORE.
HIS NEW BOOK IS THE LUCKIEST
MAN.
LIFE WITH JOHN McCAIN.
YOU INDEED SPENT YOUR LIFE WITH
JOHN McCAIN.
THE SPEECH YOU WROTE FOR HIM, IT
IS GOING VIRAL NOW.
WHY DO CONCESSION SPEECHES
MATTER?
WHAT IS PRESIDENT TRUMP LOSING
BY NOT MAKING A GRACIOUS
CONCESSION SPEECH?
>> WELL, INTERESTINGLY, I THINK
IT WAS IN McCAIN’S NAME TO WANT
TO MOVE ON FROM ANY
DISAPPOINTMENT AS RAPIDLY AS HE
COULD AND HE WANTED THE COUNTRY
TO MOVE ON.
ESPECIALLY HIS SUPPORTERS TO
MOVE ON FROM THEIR
DISAPPOINTMENT IN THE OUTCOME OF
THE ELECTION.
HE HAD KNOWN FOR A COUPLE WEEKS
HE WOULD PROBABLY LOSE AND HE
WAS ALSO AWARE AS YOU’LL
REMEMBER OF SOME TOWN HALL
MEETINGS AND RALLIES WHERE HIS
OPPONENTS QUESTIONED THEN
SENATOR OBAMA’S CITIZENSHIP,
THAT THERE WERE UNFOUNDED
ALLEGATIONS ABOUT THE LEGITIMACY
OF THE OBAMA CANDIDACY.
HE WANTED TO MAKE SURE HE
DISCOURAGE THAT HAD FROM
CONTINUING.
SO HE WANTED TO BE GRACIOUS.
HE THOUGHT HE WOULD BE
REMEMBERED FOR THIS SPEECH.
INFLUENCING HISTORY WAS THE
BIGGEST AMBITION JOHN McCAIN
EVER HAD.
AND HE THOUGHT HE WOULD BE
REMEMBERED.
HE WAS CONSCIOUS OF HOW HE WOULD
BE REMEMBERED BY HISTORY.
SO I THINK TRUMP IS LOSING ALL
OF THAT TO BE REMEMBERED
SOMEWHAT BETTER FOR HIS EXIT
THAN HE WAS FOR HIS TENURE AS
PRESIDENT BY BEING AS UNGRACIOUS
AND AS FOOLISH AS THIS IS.
NO ONE IN THAT WHITE HOUSE
BELIEVES THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP
WILL RETURN FOR ANOTHER FOUR
YEARS.
NOBODY CAN DO ANYTHING ABOUT THE
FACT ON JANUARY 20th, JOE BIDEN
WILL BE THE 46th PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES.
DONALD TRUMP CAN’T PREVENT THAT.
DONALD TRUMP JR. CAN’T PREVENT
THAT.
RUDY GIULIANI CAN’T PREVENT
THAT.
LINDSEY GRAHAM CAN’T PREVENT
THAT.
IT’S A FACT.
NOW, IF HE WERE REALLY PUTTING
AMERICA FIRST, HE WOULD WANT TO
DO SOMETHING TO AT LEAF QUIET
SOME OF THE RESENTMENT AND NOT
POUR GASOLINE ON IT OVER THE
ELECTION.
>> ESPECIALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF A
PANDEMIC WHICH IS NOW REACHED
TEN MILLION AMERICANS.
AND THE NEED TO MOVE ON.
TO GET THAT TRANSITION GOING,
ESPECIALLY RIGHT NOW.
WHAT ADVICE DID SENATOR McCAIN
GIVE YOU WRITING THAT SPEECH?
BRINGING THE COUNTRY TOGETHER?
>> YEAH.
HE WAS VERY --
>> THERE IS A BACK STORY.
>> GO AHEAD.
I’M SORRY.
>> GO ON.
I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU ABOUT,
THERE WAS A BACK STORY THAT
SARAH PALIN WANTED TO SPEAK AS
WELL WHICH WAS NOT TRADITIONAL.
AND I GUESS KNOWING THAT HER
TONE MIGHT NOT BE WHAT HE WANTED
TO STRIKE, THAT SHE WAS
PREVENTED FROM GIVING A SPEECH
THAT NIGHT.
>> YEAH.
MATT SCULLY WROTE HER SPEECH.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT
GRACIOUS.
JOHN JUST DIDN’T WANT TO PROLONG
THE EXPERIENCE.
HE FELT HE WOULD GO OUT,
ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO RALLY
BEHIND THE NEW PRESIDENT.
HE WANTED TO MOVE ON.
HE WENT, AS SOON AS HE GAVE THAT
SPEECH, HE DISMISSED, HE SAID,
HE TOLD THE SECRET SERVICE
DETAIL, I WOULD APPRECIATE A
REED HOME AND THEN GO HOME TO
YOUR FAMILIES WHERE OUR
ASSOCIATION IS OVER.
AND HE WANTS THE COUNTRY TO MOVE
ON.
THAT WAS ALWAYS THE WAY HE
APPROACHED EVEN SUCCESSES.
HE DIDN’T WANT TO REMAIN CAPTIVE
TO THEM OF THE HE WANTED TO MOVE
ON TO THE NEXT THING AND HE
THOUGHT THAT WAS IMPORTANT TO
THE COUNTRY.
I DON’T THINK IT WAS OUT OF
CONCERN THAT SHE WOULD GIVE AN
UNGRACIOUS SPEECH.
THAT WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED.
HE TOLD ME IN ADVANCE WHAT HE
WANTED TO SAY.
HE WANTED TO RECOGNIZE THE
SPECIAL HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
OF SENATOR OBAMA’S ELECTION.
HE WAS SUPERSTITIOUS SO HE
GENERALLY DIDN’T LIKE US WRITING
SPEECHES ON ELECTION NIGHT
BEFORE WE KNEW THE OUTCOME.
BUT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT IT AT
LENGTH.
AND HE HAD GIVEN ME LEAVE TO