John McCain's Arizona primary challenger wants to 'give him the gift of retirement'
Arizona Sen. John McCain's primary election opponent is calling his health into question, describing him as "old" and "weak."
In an interview with Chuck Todd, former senator Kelli Ward said she is confident she can beat McCain, alluding to the war veteran's age and health.
"I do want to wish him a happy birthday," Ward said. "He is going to be 80 on Monday and I want to give him the best birthday present ever, the gift of retirement."
Ward, who is a medical doctor, panned McCain's decades-long career in Washington and pointed to his age as a reason that would prevent him from effectively continuing his duties as senator.
"I see the physiological changes that happen in normal aging, in patients again and again and again over the last 20, 25 years," Ward said. "So I do know what happens to the body and the mind at the end of life," Ward said.
McCain, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, expressed concerns earlier this year that Donald Trump's raucous presidential campaign would affect his own election fight.
"With over 30 percent of the vote being the Hispanic vote, no doubt that this may be the race of my life," McCain said in a transcript of an audio recording published by Politico in May.