John McCain’s wife scolded a White House aide who made a flippant crack about the Arizona senator’s battle with brain cancer.
"May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren," Cindy McCain posted on Twitter late Thursday.
Earlier, the Arizona senator’s name came up during a White House meeting about the nomination of Gina Haspel to head the CIA.
McCain, a war hero tortured during captivity in Vietnam, opposes the appointment because of Haspel’s link to an "enhanced interrogation" program once used on terrorist suspects and her "refusal to acknowledge torture’s immorality."
A source told The Hill that during the closed-door meeting, White House communications aide Kelly Sadler remarked about McCain’s opposition, "it doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway."
McCain has been away from the Senate as he recovers from aggressive treatments for brain cancer and related surgery. He was diagnosed last year with glioblastoma, the same ailment that killed Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy and Beau Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden.
The White House did not deny the account of Sadler’s crack, but told The Hill: "We respect Senator McCain’s service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time."
Sadler, a former opinion editor for The Washington Times, later called the senator's daughter Meghan McCain to apologize. The Daily Caller reported that Meghan plans to address the rude remark on "The View," the ABC talk show she co-hosts.
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