Lt. Jack McCain usually keeps a pretty low profile on social media, but after an Old Navy ad featuring an interracial couple received racist backlash last week, the Navy helicopter pilot threw in his two cents — and then some.
McCain, son of Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, tweeted photos of himself and his wife, Capt. Renee Swift McCain, an African-American Air Force Reserve officer who is black, both in uniform and at their 2013 wedding, with a message for any haters: "Eat it."
"The mere fact that this is a conversation in the year 2016 is disheartening enough, and why this type of response — like the one aimed at Old Navy — merits conversation," McCain told Navy Times Tuesday.
The apparel ad, a tweet promoting a 30 percent off sale, went out Friday morning. While it was met with plenty of support, the store also received a barrage of responses from people who didn't appreciate the image of a white father, a black mother and their mixed son.
Tweets crying miscegenation — the term for interracial procreating — accused Old Navy of supporting "white genocide."
McCain tweeted out his response on Monday, as reported by The Washington Post and other outlets.
Renee also tweeted her support.
"I did not intend for this level of exposure. Mostly, I wanted to take a principled stand on an issue that shouldn't be one in the first place," McCain said in an email. "If there is one result I could hope for out of all of this furor, it would be helping to ensure that intolerance has no place in service, or in our national discourse."
McCain, who graduated from the Naval Academy in 2009, has been a designated MH-60 Seahawk pilot since 2011. He's currently earning a master's degree from Georgetown University.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
