Former Vice President Joe Biden consoled an emotional Meghan McCain during Wednesday's airing of ABC's "The View" because of Sen. John McCain's recent brain cancer diagnosis and the death of Biden's son Beau two and a half years ago.
Beau Biden died in May 2015 after a battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer. Sen. McCain, R-Ariz., was diagnosed with the same type of cancer in July.
Joe Biden appeared on "The View" on Wednesday and ended up consoling Meghan McCain, 33, as they spoke about fighting the deadly disease.
"I couldn't get through your book, I tried," McCain said, referencing "Promise Me, Dad: A year of Hope, Hardship and Purpose." "Your son Beau had the same cancer my father was diagnosed with six months ago."
"I think about Beau almost every day," she continued. "I was told that this doesn't get easier, but you cultivate the tools to work with this and live with this. I know you and your family have been through tragedy that I couldn't conceive of, what would you tell people? It's not about me, it's about everyone with cancer."
McCain was visibly emotional at this point, and Biden switched seats to sit next to her. He held her hand as he spoke about the friendship he has forged with McCain's father over the years and how that gave Beau strength during his own cancer fight.
"It is about everyone, but look, one of the things that gave Beau courage — my word — was John. Your dad — you may remember when you were a little kid — your dad took care of my Beau," Biden said. "Your dad, when he was a [military] aide and worked with me, became friends with Beau. And Beau talked about your dad's courage, not about illness, but about his courage.
"And look, there's a lot of things happening. Any of you have somebody who is diagnosed with glioblastoma, which is about as bad as it gets, there's breakthroughs that are occurring now."
Biden then talked about medical research and breakthroughs currently happening in the fight against cancer.
"There is hope, and if anybody can make it, your dad — her dad is one of my best friends," Biden said. "Her dad goes after me, hammer and thong. We're like two brothers who were somehow raised by different fathers or something because of our points of view.
"The thing that I found, and Beau insisted on, and your dad's going to insist on, is you've got to maintain hope. You have to have hope."
McCain closed the nearly 8-minute segment by thanking Biden "for your compassion, you're a great hope to me and everyone else in the country right now."