Commentary
When Cindy McCain, widow of the late Sen. John McCain, was named U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture in 2021, there were those, like me, who viewed it as a Biden campaign payback, but who can knock it when she’s doing something she believes in?
Like the maverick senator, who often faced opposition within his own party, Cindy is not only facing criticism from within her organization, but also from her daughter, Meghan.
In April 2023, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed her to lead the World Food Program, which has more than 23,000 employees worldwide. While meeting virtually with them, it wasn’t long before she encountered an internal uproar over accusations that she wasn’t leveraging her position to speak out against the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Members in the program’s Jordan offices boycotted the meeting, and others staged a symbolic walkout, believing she was defensive, combative and not listening to concerns.
Some of her global staff members were angered by her refusal to publicly call for a cease fire, and there was a growing demand for her removal with statements that she was tone-deaf to staff concerns.
A woman in Gaza, speaking on behalf of Palestinian staff members, reporting on the magnitude of the need there, asked what she will do to rebuild the trust “you broke among your staff?”
The New York Times reported that she was accused of not calling out Israel for what they described as using food as a weapon in Gaza, where water and electricity had been cut off during Israel’s military offensive.
Appearing on the CBS’s Face the Nation in December 2023, she spoke of Gaza being on the brink of famine.
Then in January this year, while appearing on CNN’s The Lead, she called for a cease fire, saying it was the only way to prevent a famine.
That didn’t sit well with her daughter, Meghan, who went on social media to say, “No ceasefire. Release the hostages.” Like the senator, Meghan is an unabashed supporter of Israel and the Jewish people.
Meghan is charting a different course from her mother, who became a strong supporter of Joe Biden, according to Phil Boas, an opinion writer with the Arizona Republic.
Despite Cindy’s decision on a cease fire, she has been a longtime supporter of Israel and does not embrace the anti-Israel protests we are seeing expressed across the nation.
Earlier this month, during an appearance on the NBC’s Meet the Press, Cindy said there was “full blown famine” in Gaza’s north and moving its way south.
While explaining the need for unfettered access to deliver needed humanitarian supplies, she said, “you know, it hasn’t always worked that way. It’s been a very difficult run and I’m so proud of our people on the ground there because it’s dangerous and they continue to deliver.”
As her organization and others negotiate deliveries of humanitarian supplies, they are faced with masked and armed Hamas men who loot the trucks after they arrive through the Rafah crossing. They stockpile supplies and keep them from desperate civilians.
While an all-out famine has not been officially declared, Cindy continues to push for access to deliver needed supplies.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
