White House Declines to Condemn Aide’s McCain Remark

Sanders Says the Aide Still Works for the White House

WASHINGTON (AP) -The White House is refusing to condemn a staffer who said during a closed-door meeting that Arizona Sen. John McCain’s opinion “doesn’t matter” because “he’s dying anyway.”

Kelly Sadler was discussing McCain’s opposition to President Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director Gina Haspel.

Former Vice President Joe Biden says a White House official’s comments about Sen. John McCain showed when “decency would hit rock bottom with this administration.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the aide, Kelly Sadler, still works for the White House.

Sanders is refusing to otherwise weigh in on the comments or condemn them.

Sanders tells reporters she’s “not going to validate a leak out of an internal staff meeting one way or the other.”

She did not mention McCain’s name.

McCain’s wife and daughter Meghan have both condemned the comments.

The White House said Thursday night in a statement: “we respect Senator McCain’s service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time.”

Sanders says the White House has respect for all Americans.