A White House official dismissed Sen. John McCain鈥檚 opposition to President Donald Trump鈥檚 CIA nominee, saying 鈥渋t doesn鈥檛 matter鈥� because 鈥渉e鈥檚 dying anyway,鈥� two people in the room told The Associated Press.
Kelly Sadler was discussing McCain鈥檚 opposition to Trump鈥檚 pick for CIA director, Gina Haspel, at a staff meeting on Thursday when she made the comment, according to the two people. They were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
The White House did not dispute the remark. In a statement, they said, 鈥淲e respect Senator McCain鈥檚 service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time.鈥�
The Hill newspaper first reported the comment.
The 81-year-old Arizona Republican, who has spent three decades in the Senate, was diagnosed in July with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. He left Washington in December and underwent surgery last month for an infection.
Sadler is a special assistant to the president. She did not respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.
McCain鈥檚 wife, Cindy, responded with a tweet tagged to Sadler, 鈥淢ay I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren.鈥�
May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren.
鈥� Cindy McCain (@cindymccain)
Sen. McCain, a Navy pilot who was beaten in captivity during the Vietnam War, has urged his fellow senators to reject Haspel. He said Wednesday that he believes she鈥檚 a patriot who loves the country but 鈥渉er refusal to acknowledge torture鈥檚 immorality is disqualifying.鈥�
Haspel faced grilling Wednesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee about her role overseeing some CIA operations after the Sept. 11 attacks. She told senators that she doesn鈥檛 believe torture works as an interrogation technique.
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As for the president, he and McCain have had a troubled relationship.
As a GOP presidential candidate in 2015, Trump said McCain was 鈥渘ot a war hero鈥� because he was captured in Vietnam, adding, 鈥淚 like people who weren鈥檛 captured.鈥�
Last July, McCain became the deciding vote against the GOP health care repeal with a dramatic thumbs-down. Trump later told the Conservative Political Action Conference that 鈥渆xcept for one Senator, who came into a room at three o鈥檆lock in the morning and went like that鈥� 鈥擳rump gave a thumbs-down 鈥� 鈥渨e would have had health care (reform), too.鈥�
The crowd booed, and Trump added, 鈥淚 won鈥檛 use his name.鈥�
My Apology to Senator McCain and his Family
鈥� Charles V Payne (@cvpayne)
鈥淭his morning on a show I was hosting, a guest made a very false and derogatory remark about Senator John McCain. At the time, I had the control room in my ear telling me to wrap the segment, and did not hear the comment.
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Zeke Miller And Jill Colvin, The Associated Press
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