McCain calls heckler a 'jerk' after being jeered at Memorial Day event
By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 00:17 EST, 29 May 2012 | UPDATED: 03:19 EST, 29 May 2012
Senator John McCain did not take kindly to being heckled during a Memorial Day tribute to America’s fallen soldiers on Monday.
The Vietnam War veteran, who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war, accompanied presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to the San Diego service honouring the nation's war dead.
But as the Arizona Senator began giving his speech to an audience of 5,000 veterans, an unruly heckler interrupted him.
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 Tribute: The Vietnam War veteran, (right) who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war, accompanied presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to the service honouring the nation's war dead in San Diego
In footage taken from the ceremony at the Veterans Museum & Memorial Center in San Diego, the man can be heard shouting loudly, much to the shock of the captive audience.
The rowdy heckler was hastily removed from the crowd to boos and cries of ‘take him down’.
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But that did not seem to appease McCain, who snapped, ‘Jerk,’ to a round of applause.
The crowd roared with laughter, while Romney, who sat beside him, chuckled.
 Removed: A man who interrupted Sen. John McCain during a speech at the Veterans Museum & Memorial Center on Monday is ushered away by security
 Rowdy: A heckler who was called a 'jerk' by Senator McCain is pulled away during the event in San Diego, California, on May 28, 2012
McCain spoke kindly of his one-time GOP rival. He introduced the former Massachusetts Governor to the thousands gathered as a 'man who I believe is fully qualified to be commander-in-chief.'
'He believes in American exceptionalism,' McCain said. 'He believes the 21st Century will also be an American century.'
American exceptionalism is a political philosophy that assigns a unique and unprecedented place to the United States as the leading global proponent and exemplar of liberty, freedom and equality around the world.
Across the country in Washington, Obama marked the solemn holiday with remembrances at Arlington National Cemetery, and later at the Vietnam War Memorial marking the 50th anniversary of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
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