A growing number of mainstream media outlets are holding Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) accountable for flip-flopping on his support of a deal to release Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban capitivity.

McCain joined in the right-wing outcry that followed the White House's May 31 announcement that it had secured the release of Bergdahl, the only U.S. service member remaining in enemy hands from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, telling Politico that he “would not have made this deal” if he was the president and denying that he was ever told of the potential prisoner exchange in an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo.

McCain's rejection of the deal stood in stark contrast to his position on the issue just months ago, when he told CNN's Anderson Cooper that he “would be inclined to support” “an exchange of prisoners for our American fighting man,” depending on the details -- an inconsistency the media initially missed.

He went on to day the exchange was “something I think we should seriously consider.”

McCain's February position was already a change from the position he held in January 2012, when Rolling Stone's Michael Hastings reported that McCain “reluctantly came around” on the idea of exchanging the five Guantanamo detainees in question for Bergdahl.

After Media Matters raised the issue of McCain's inconsistency on Bergdahl's release, CNN's Jake Tapper noted McCain's conflicting stances on the prisoner exchange on the June 5 edition of The Lead. The New York Times wrote that McCain “switched positions for maximum political advantage.” And MSNBC's Rachel Maddow criticized McCain for standing “against his own idea.”

Days later, Tapper went on to press McCain on the inconsistency. McCain disputed the “flip-flop charge” by noting that he'd made his support contingent on “the details.” McCain said the details of the deal that secured Bergdahl's release “are outrageous” and “unacceptable.”

This attempt to rewrite history was short-lived. Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler weighed in the following morning, pointing out that “the most important detail -- the identity of the prisoners -- was known at the time he indicated his support” and stamping McCain's statements with the upside-down Pinnochio that denotes “flip flop”:

McCain may have thought he left himself an out when he said his support was dependent on the details. But then he can't object to the most important detail -- the identity of the prisoners-that was known at the time he indicated his support. McCain earns an upside-down Pinocchio, constituting a flip-flop.

The New York Times called McCain on “switch[ing] positions for maximum political advantage” and Politico included the flip-flop in a list of times McCain has complained of misrepresentation this week.