Schiff: McCain ‘Was Such a Great Example of Strength and Courage and Dedication to Our Democracy’

EXCERPT: 

SCHIFF: "Well, he was such a great example of strength and courage and dedication to our democracy that I would have thought any number of House Republicans in particular would have followed his example. And I raised this with him once, we were appearing jointly on a panel and before we went on I remarked to him how much I admired him and how disappointed I was that there didn’t seem to be a single Republican in the House who felt they had a constituency to be the John McCain of the House. And he looked at me and he said, 'well, if there isn’t, they will be calling you Chairman.' And it was a classic kind of blunt John McCain comment and one of the reasons why I think he won over people on both sides of the aisle with his wit, with his candor, but also with his sense of humor. I have to tell you that was one thing I didn’t really appreciate about Senator McCain until I traveled with him is just how funny he is. He used to introduce by saying this is Adam Schiff, he is a good guy who gets things right about zero percent of the time. Even Lindsey Graham who he loved more than anyone else in the Congress used to introduce by saying 'this is Lindsey Graham, everyone knows Lindsey, few people like him.' That was the kind of way John would introduce you and, you know, it was just an honor to be in his presence and to watch the kind of respect world leaders had for him, to watch the way he struck up such an easy relationship demeanor with others. It was a treat to be around him."