Biden to speak at McCain’s funeral service in Arizona

Former Vice President Joe Biden is expected to speak at a funeral service for the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday, CNN reported.

An aide for McCain told the network that Biden will attend services at North Phoenix Baptist Church. 

McCain is scheduled to lie in state at the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday, followed by the service on Thursday.

{mosads}McCain will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on Friday. On Saturday, former Presidents Obama and George W. Bush will eulogize McCain at a service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

McCain, a former naval aviator, will be buried at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., on Sunday.

McCain died on Saturday at 81 after being diagnosed a year ago with the same kind of brain cancer Biden’s son Beau succumbed to in 2015.

“John was many things — a proud graduate of the Naval Academy, a Senate colleague, a political opponent. But, to me, more than anything, John was a friend,” Biden said in a statement on Saturday.

Biden and McCain were known to be close friends for decades during their time in the Senate together. 

“The View” co-host Meghan McCain, John McCain’s eldest child with his wife Cindy, said earlier this month that she speaks with Biden “all the time.”

During an appearance on “The View” in December, Biden comforted Meghan on air as she grieved over her father’s diagnosis, telling her that his son found strength in John McCain’s courage.