Several Senate Democrats said they consider McCain a key voice in reining in a president-elect who vowed on the campaign trail to bring back waterboarding and kill the families of terrorists. McCain endured torture during his five-and-a-half years as a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam.

“He’s already been incredibly effective and outspoken with respect to torture, and no one has more legitimacy or respect when it comes to not just that issue but so many other issues,” said Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat onSeveral Senate Democrats said they consider McCain a key voice in reining in a president-elect who vowed on the campaign trail to bring back waterboarding and kill the families of terrorists. McCain endured torture during his 5½ years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam…

Last year, McCain fought to get an anti-torture provision in the annual National Defense Authorization Act. He has already issued a warning to Trump not to reinstate George W. Bush-era interrogation practices.

“I don’t give a damn what the president of the United States wants to do. We will not waterboard,” McCain said last month at an annual security conference in the Canadian city of Halifax, adding that anyone who sought to bring back torture would find themselves in court “in a New York minute.”