Graham: Ivanka Trump’s ‘very nice’ comments about McCain ‘not unnoticed by the family’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday said Ivanka Trump’s “very nice” comments about the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) were “not unnoticed by the family” when explaining why she and her husband, Jared Kushner, were invited to McCain’s memorial service on Saturday. 

Graham on CNN’s “State of the Union” denied reports that he had invited White House senior advisers Trump and Kushner, saying “nobody was at that funeral that did not get invited by the family.” But he said the McCain family appreciated Trump’s tribute to the Senate giant after his death last week.

{mosads}”Earlier in the week, I met with Ivanka about her trip we’re planning in Africa,” Graham said. “Ivanka said some very nice things about Sen. McCain after his passing. It was not unnoticed by the family.”

“If you wanted to invite everybody that loved John McCain, you could have filled up Yankee stadium,” added Graham, McCain’s longtime friend. 

Graham went on to say that he is trying to connect Trump and McCain’s wife, Cindy McCain, over their shared interest in women’s issues.

“I’m hoping that Cindy, who has done terrific work for human trafficking of women and all things related to that issue, can work with Ivanka and others because that’s her life’s work and maybe these two can work together to help women who are in desperate straits,” Graham said. “I think both of them would like to do that and I’d like to help them to the extent I could.”

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who was so close with the Republican senators that the trio was referred to as the “Three Amigos,” added that he spoke to Trump and Kushner after the funeral and they had “no complaints” about the implicit references to and commentary about President Trump throughout the ceremony. 

“I thanked them, as John’s friend,” Lieberman said on CNN. “It meant a lot. At the end, I spoke to them too and there were no complaints. They felt that the whole service was a great tribute to him.” 

Ivanka Trump on Monday said the U.S. is “united in its grief” at the death of McCain, calling him a “true hero.” 

President Trump was not invited to McCain’s funeral and did not attend. The two had an antagonistic relationship as Trump continued to publicly mock McCain in the final months of his life.