Meghan McCain slams Lindsey Graham’s call to send ‘children to go possibly die’ in Iran war

WASHINGTON, DC: Conservative commentator Meghan McCain blasted Senator Lindsey Graham for remarks he made about asking parents to send their children to fight in a potential war with Iran. Graham made the comments while appearing on Fox News on Wednesday, March 11.

The comments came as the United States and Israel continued military operations targeting Iran and tensions escalated in the region. Graham’s statements sparked backlash from several conservative figures and lawmakers.

Meghan McCain responds to Lindsey Graham’s remarks on Middle East conflict

Meghan McCain sharply criticized Graham for suggesting he would ask families to send their children to fight in the Middle East. Writing on the social platform X, McCain, the daughter of the late Senator John McCain, said, “Nothing like a single, childless, septuagenarian telling American mothers to send their children to go possibly die in a war.”

 In the interview, he urged US allies in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, to take a stronger role in confronting Iran.

“I go back to South Carolina, I’m asking them to send their sons and daughters over to the Middle East,” Graham said.

He continued, “What I want you do in the Middle East, to our friends in Saudi Arabia and other places, step forward and say, ‘This is my fight too. I join America. I’m publicly involved in bringing this regime down.’”

Graham added that failing to do so would harm relationships with the US, “If you don’t, you’re making a great mistake and you’re going to cut off the ability to have a better relationship with the US. I say this as a friend.”

The remarks also drew criticism from within the Republican Party, as Rep Nancy Mace, who is running for governor, reacted on X by asking, “What in the world would possess anyone to say this?” She later wrote, “I do not want to send South Carolina’s sons and daughters into war with Iran.”

Trump administration and military situation in the Iran conflict

Other conservatives also pushed back. Rep Anna Paulina Luna and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly criticized Graham’s interventionist rhetoric. “If Senator Graham wants to go fight in a foreign conflict, let him be the first to volunteer,” Luna wrote, adding that the administration had not changed its stance on ground troops and that there were “NO BOOTS on the ground.”

While leaving open the possibility of sending troops, President Donald Trump said the US was “nowhere near” making that decision. Speaking to the New York Post, Trump said there had been no determination about deploying ground forces to safeguard nuclear material at the Isfahan site in Iran.

As the US and Israel’s conflict with Iran reached its tenth day on Monday, Trump continued to keep options open, including the possibility of sending troops. 

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Saturday, he said, “It would] have to be [for] a very good reason, And I would say if we ever did that, [Iran] would be so decimated that they wouldn’t be able to fight at the ground level.”

According to reporting by The Times, Iran could potentially recover enriched uranium buried underground at the Isfahan site, which was bombed by the US this summer. Sources said US intelligence agencies were monitoring the location closely because retrieving the material could help Iran move toward building a nuclear weapon.

Trump also said sending special forces to secure the material was “something we could do later on." Since the operation began on February 28, seven US service members stationed at bases in the Middle East have died from Iranian retaliation.