White House Aide Out After 'Unforgivable' McCain Remark

Spokesman confirms Kelly Sadler departure
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 6, 2018 3:49 AM CDT
Aide Who Mocked McCain Has Left White House
In this Oct. 16, 2017 photo, Sen. John McCain receives the Liberty Medal from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

The White House communications aide who made a flippant remark about Sen. John McCain's terminal illness is no longer part of the administration. Spokesman Raj Shah confirmed Tuesday that Kelly Sadler—who allegedly said McCain's rejection of CIA nominee Gina Haspel didn't matter because "he's dying anyway"—is "no longer employed within the executive office of the president," the Hill reports. The White House declined to apologize for Sadler's remark last month. Sources tell Politico that Sadler's departure is part of a wider "housecleaning" of the White House communications team that will see people leaving in ones and twos instead of in a "mass exodus."

Meghan McCain, who described people making light of her father's illness as "nothing burgers," says she never received the apology Sadler promised in a phone call last month. "I was promised an apology, Kelly Sadler, publicly to my family. I did not receive that," McCain says. "This is not an administration that's capable of apologizing." Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci tells CNN that while Sadler's remark was "unforgivable," the fact that it was reported after a closed-door meeting shows somebody had it in for her. "When you're sitting inside the inner sanctum and somebody says something like that, to run outside the sanctum and rat on that person—I think that's a terrible thing to do to the person," Scaramucci says. (More John McCain stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X