A White House official dismissed Senator John McCain’s opposition to President Donald Trump’s CIA nominee, saying “it doesn’t matter” because “he’s dying anyway,” two people in the room told The Associated Press.
Kelly Sadler was discussing Mr. McCain’s opposition to Mr. Trump’s pick for CIA director, Gina Haspel, at a staff meeting on May 10 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, “We respect Senator McCain’s service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time.”
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 2017 with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. He left Washington in December and underwent surgery in April 2018 for an infection.
Ms. Sadler is a special assistant to the President. She did not respond to a request for comment on May 10 evening.
Mr. McCain’s wife, Cindy, responded with a tweet tagged to Ms. Sadler, “May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren.”
Mr. McCain, a Navy pilot who was beaten in captivity during the Vietnam War, has urged his fellow Senators to reject Ms. Haspel. He said on May 9 that he believes she’s a patriot who loves the country but “her refusal to acknowledge torture’s immorality is disqualifying.”
As for the President, he and Mr. McCain have had a troubled relationship.
As a GOP presidential candidate in 2015, Mr. Trump said Mr. McCain was “not a war hero” because he was captured in Vietnam, adding, “I like people who weren’t captured.”
In July 2017, Mr. McCain became the deciding vote against the GOP health care repeal with a dramatic thumbs-down. Mr. Trump later told the Conservative Political Action Conference that “except for one Senator, who came into a room at three o’clock in the morning and went like that” Mr. Trump gave a thumbs-down “we would have had health care (reform), too.”
The crowd booed, and Mr. Trump added, “I won’t use his name.”
