John McCain's concession speech from 2008 is going viral

In the last 24 hours, the late Senator John McCain's concession speech from the 2008 presidential election has gone viral on social media.

In the video in question, the then-72-year-old Republican candidate congratulated his rival, Democrat candidate and two-term POTUS Barack Obama, on his victory in the polls.

Many social media users have since highlighted the contrast in McCain's speech compared to President Trump's recent White House post-election press conferences.

In an emotionally-yet-dignified address to his own supporters, the former POW and Vietnam veteran states:

"We have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.

"[Obama] managed to [win] by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president.

"Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans, and please believe me when I say that no association has ever meant more to me than that."

Take a look at the concession speech in the video below:

The powerful speech, which McCain delivered back on November 4, 2008, was re-posted to Twitter by NowThis, where it has received over 9.9 million views in just 16 hours (as of this writing).

Given the ongoing fallout of the 2020 presidential race, many people have once again highlighted and praised McCain's speech for its "humility".

Jeremy Vine tweeted: "For those wanting to see a concession speech, this one by John McCain — congratulating Obama in 2008 — is worth watching again. See how he faces down the boos from his own supporters. Very few greater moments of humility."

Cary Cooper wrote alongside the video: "The greatest & most honourable speech by a defeated candidate John McCain for President; contrast this to the behaviour of the self-centred Trump whose rhetoric is leading to division & upheaval on the streets of the US!:

Amol Rajan added: "I was in Grant Park in Chicago on election night in 2008, maybe 40m from Obama as he gave that unforgettable speech. I’d forgotten that, elsewhere that evening, John McCain was giving an even better one. What a hero. He personified American greatness."

David Lammy agreed, writing: "This is how you do it! Senator John McCain giving a seminal gracious concession speech upon losing to Barack Obama. Reduced me to tears."

And Jeff Stein tweeted: "John McCain made a concession speech for the ages. There should be a monument to him for this alone. Trump is soiling his presidency to the very bitter end."

Since the ballots were closed on Tuesday (November 3), Donald Trump has caused an uproar by falsely claiming victory and alleging voter fraud.

Commenting on the ongoing counting ballots in his speech at the White House last night (November 5), the incumbent Trump stated:

"If you count the legal vote, I easily win. If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us.

"If you count the votes that came in late, we're looking at them very strongly. A lot of votes came in late."

Trump added: "I talked about mail-in voting for a long time. It's really destroyed our system. It's a corrupt system. And it's made us corrupt, even if we are not corrupt by nature. It's too easy. They wait and wait and you see that on election night."

Meanwhile, in another press conference held on the morning of Tuesday, November 3, Trump stated:

"This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election.

"This is a major fraud on our nation. We want the law to be used in a proper manner. So we'll be going to the US Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop. We don't want them to find any ballots at four o'clock in the morning."

And in a tweet shared with his 87.7 million Twitter followers, Trump wrote: "We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed! [sic]"

Joe Biden's campaign team responded indignantly to Trump's accusations, with a spokesperson for the Democrat candidate calling them "outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect."