Trump cheerleader Dan Sullivan ducks question about insults, attacks on McCain

As a tireless Trump cheerleader, Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan never stops defending the president or making excuses on his behalf.

It's as predictable as his habit of starting sentences with the words "Well, look."

Speaking on "Meet the Press" Sunday, Sullivan ducked questions about President Trump's repeated insults about the late Sen. John McCain.

Sullivan described McCain as his mentor and close friend. But Trump went on mocking the dying McCain at rallies this summer and Sullivan stayed silent. Trump's tasteless comments and actions continued in the days following McCain's death.

"How do you explain the president's behavior and how he comported himself this week in regards to John McCain?" host Chuck Todd asked Sullivan Sunday, the day McCain  was buried.

"Well, look, we know there's been tension between them. I would say that the Trump administration, overall, was very engaged. You had an important speech that the pres-- the vice president gave at the ceremony of laying in state in the dome. Yesterday, there was a number of folks from the administration there," Sullivan said.

Sullivan could have taken the opportunity to reject Trump's attacks, but he reverted to his standard practice of never saying anything that might offend the president. Pretending that there was "tension" in the Trump/McCain hatefest fits that pattern of obsequious behavior.

"You kind of gloss over it. Why? He's the President of the United States," said Todd.

"What what I’m trying to -- Chuck, I'm not trying to gloss over it," said Sullivan.

"I’m not trying to gloss over it. But here's what I think is more important. Yes, there was tensions between the president and John McCain. This week, though, has been all about John McCain and the unity of his vision of courage, of patriotism, of freedom, of service before self. And I think that's the lesson that we should take away from the week. That's what I want. I think that's what the family wants to take away."

Sullivan was right. He wasn't "trying to gloss over it." He glossed over it.