Did John McCain Call His Wife a C**t?

Posted by ZP Heller, Brave New Films at 9:00 AM on May 2, 2008.

At a town hall meeting in Iowa yesterday, Baptist Minister Marty Parrish asked McCain:
"This question goes to mental health and mental health care. Previously, I've been married to a woman that was verbally abusive to me. Is it true that you called your wife a (expletive)?"

McCain: "Now, now. You don't want to... Um, you know that's the great thing about town hall meetings, sir, but we really don't, there's people here who don't respect that kind of language. So I'll move on to the next questioner in the back."

Apparently, Parrish was escorted out of the town hall for asking this question, then detained by Secret Service before being released. To me, that suggests a total hypocrisy at play. McCain can use this expletive to refer to his wife, but if an average citizen questions him about it publicly, he's taken into police custody, forced to leave a public forum, and questioned by the Secret Service?!

Parrish, who used to work for Joe Biden's campaign, explained the reasons for his question: "What I am worried about is his temper. Our country is in a serious crisis. This election is the most significant one since 1860. It appears America is asleep -- so I stood up and asked the question."

Cliff Schecter, who first revealed McCain's misogynistic mindset in his book, The Real McCain, has more on the town hall exchange at FireDogLake.

Tagged as: john mccain, cindy mccain

ZP Heller is the editorial director of Brave New Films. He has written for The American Prospect, AlterNet, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Huffington Post, covering everything from politics to pop culture.