John McCain: 'I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company'

Senator John McCain is coming under fire today after MSNBC played video Thursday night of the Republican presidential candidate appearing to say that he did not love his country until he was a prisoner of war.

"I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company," McCain said in an interview with Fox News earlier this year. The remark raised the eyebrows of critics who complained that McCain was being treated differently from Senator Barack Obama's wife Michelle, who earlier this year said she was "really proud" of her country for the first time in her adult lifetime.

Obama's critics jumped on his wife's remarks, and many said that they had always been proud of their country. John McCain's wife Cindy even used Mrs. Obama's words against her. At a rally speech in February, Mrs. McCain said, "I'm proud of my country. I don't know about you, if you heard those words earlier. I'm very proud of my country."

Critics quickly seized on McCain's remarks. "Now that Dan Abrams of MSNBC uncovered repeated statements by John McCain on camera...maybe we can put the right-wing attacks against Michelle Obama to rest," writes one blogger.

Another blogger on The Daily Kos web site writes: "While there isn't necessarily anything wrong with [McCain's] statements (Abrams even says that they are eloquent) how are they really any different from Michelle Obama's comments that she was proud of her country for the first time in her adult life?"

And yet another critic on The Daily Kos site pointed out that McCain was 31 years old at the time. "Johnny Mac, the son and grandson of Navy Admirals, who attended the United States Naval Academy on the public's dime, did not appreciate our great country until well into his adulthood," the blogger writes.

Meanwhile, John McCain's supporters defended his remarks and distinguished them from Michelle Obama's comments. Writing on Sean Hannity's online message board, one defender called the criticism "whining cry-baby liberal *******s trying to equate it to what michelle obama said. It was PATHETIC!!"

Another comment on Hannity's board criticized reporters for taking McCain's words out of context. "It is sad (in my opinion) that people don't quite understand the fullness of what he is saying," the commenter wrote.

See the full video below.