GOP senator calls on White House aide to apologize for McCain remark

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) called on White House aide Kelly Sadler to “show some respect and apologize” after she mocked Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) brain cancer diagnosis.

Sullivan was responding to a report from The Hill on Thursday describing how Sadler brushed off McCain’s opposition to President Trump’s CIA nominee by saying “It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway.”

“As to the White House official who offered such an insult, she should show some respect and apologize,” Sullivan tweeted.

As to the White House official who offered such an insult, she should show some respect and apologize.

— SenDanSullivan (@SenDanSullivan) May 13, 2018

McCain, 81, is battling an aggressive form of brain cancer. 

Sullivan called McCain a “great American, a close friend & mentor of mine in the Senate” in a series of tweets on Sunday.

.@SenJohnMcCain is a great American, a close friend & mentor of mine in the Senate. Like millions of Americans, my family & I continue to pray for this American hero as he bravely battles cancer, & is again showing the courage and fighting spirit for which he is widely regarded.

— SenDanSullivan (@SenDanSullivan) May 13, 2018

“Making light of this – especially in the senseless and classless manner that’s been described in the media – is simply sad and speaks more broadly to the low levels of civil discourse & respect that have infected our politics on both sides of the aisle. We all need to do better,” Sullivan wrote.

Making light of this – especially in the senseless and classless manner that’s been described in the media – is simply sad and speaks more broadly to the low levels of civil discourse & respect that have infected our politics on both sides of the aisle. We all need to do better.

— SenDanSullivan (@SenDanSullivan) May 13, 2018

{mosads} Sadler made the derisive remark on Thursday during a closed-door meeting at the White House with about two dozen communications staffers.

Politicians from both sides of the aisle have condemned the remark and called on Sadler to apologize publicly.

Sadler, a White House special assistant, called the McCain family to apologize, the senator’s daughter Meghan McCain said this week.

However, Meghan McCain said Sunday that she’s still waiting for the public apology that Sadler promised she would give.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to address the issue during a press briefing on Friday, saying it was a staff matter.

“I’m not going to validate a leak, one way or another, out of an internal staff meeting,” Sanders said during her Friday press briefing as reporters peppered her with questions. 

Sanders declined to confirm or deny reports about a public apology from the White House during the briefing.