Trump dismisses an assistant who jokes about the "dying" war hero John McCain
Donald Trump fired an assistant who said that Sen. John McCain's
opposition to a presidential candidate did not matter because "he is
dying anyway," the White House announced on Tuesday.
The White House was shaken by bipartisan fury over the remark attributed to Kelly Sadler in May.
"Kelly Sadler is no longer employed in the Executive Office of the President," said a brief statement by White House deputy spokesman Raj Shah.McCain, 81, had indicated he opposed the nomination of now-appointed CIA director Gina Haspel for her role in the enhanced interrogation techniques under President George W. Bush.
The Arizona senator, who was held prisoner and tortured during the Vietnam War, is fighting brain cancer.
CNN had quoted a White House official as saying that Sadler, speaking at a staff meeting, understood the comment as a joke, but that it failed.
Another extraordinary attack on McCain that shocked Washington occurred around the same time as a fellow veteran, retired US Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, who said the torture works because he had McCain pass on confidential information to his captors during his years. as a prisoner of war. Vietnam.
The attacks, notable for their frankness, triggered a quick reaction from across the political spectrum, with lawmakers demanding an apology from Trump that never came.
Meghan McCain, a conservative commentator on ABC's well-known morning talk show, "The View," made an eloquent defense of her father, who is battling brain cancer at home in Arizona.
"I do not understand what kind of environment you are working with when that would be acceptable and then you can come to work the next day and still have a job," he said at the time.
His father "has to do with character and bipartisanship and is something more important than oneself," said Meghan McCain, before adding a poignant message to critics: "Nobody will remember you."
Members of Congress also joined behind their sick war colleague.
Trump, meanwhile, once mocked McCain's war service and said during the presidential campaign that "I like people who were not captured."
The White House was shaken by bipartisan fury over the remark attributed to Kelly Sadler in May.
"Kelly Sadler is no longer employed in the Executive Office of the President," said a brief statement by White House deputy spokesman Raj Shah.McCain, 81, had indicated he opposed the nomination of now-appointed CIA director Gina Haspel for her role in the enhanced interrogation techniques under President George W. Bush.
The Arizona senator, who was held prisoner and tortured during the Vietnam War, is fighting brain cancer.CNN had quoted a White House official as saying that Sadler, speaking at a staff meeting, understood the comment as a joke, but that it failed.
Another extraordinary attack on McCain that shocked Washington occurred around the same time as a fellow veteran, retired US Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, who said the torture works because he had McCain pass on confidential information to his captors during his years. as a prisoner of war. Vietnam.
The attacks, notable for their frankness, triggered a quick reaction from across the political spectrum, with lawmakers demanding an apology from Trump that never came.
Meghan McCain, a conservative commentator on ABC's well-known morning talk show, "The View," made an eloquent defense of her father, who is battling brain cancer at home in Arizona.
"I do not understand what kind of environment you are working with when that would be acceptable and then you can come to work the next day and still have a job," he said at the time.
His father "has to do with character and bipartisanship and is something more important than oneself," said Meghan McCain, before adding a poignant message to critics: "Nobody will remember you."
Members of Congress also joined behind their sick war colleague.
Trump, meanwhile, once mocked McCain's war service and said during the presidential campaign that "I like people who were not captured."
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