--- title: Meghan McCain Slams Kelly Sadler for 'Dying' John McCain Joke description: Meghan McCain fired back on Friday against a White House aide who reportedly mocked and dismissed her father by saying "he's dying anyway" canonical: https://time.com/5274138/john-mccain-kelly-sadler-meghan/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-11T15:49:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:25.745Z article:section: Politics og:title: Meghan McCain Fires Back at White House Aide Who Mocked 'Dying' John McCain og:description: “I don’t understand what kind of environment you’re working in" og:url: https://time.com/5274138/john-mccain-kelly-sadler-meghan/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta796178e9b5f914b/69893030929fad04abbf0885/john-mccain-kelly-sadler-meghan.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: ABC's "The View" - Season 21 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meghan McCain Fires Back at White House Aide Who Mocked 'Dying' John McCain twitter:description: “I don’t understand what kind of environment you’re working in" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta796178e9b5f914b/69893030929fad04abbf0885/john-mccain-kelly-sadler-meghan.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'It Is Not How You Die. It Is How You Live.' Meghan McCain Fires Back at White House Aide Who Mocked 'Dying' John McCain ## Video: Sen. John McCain, Ill With Brain Cancer, Tells Western Allies 'I Am Counting on You... to Never Give Up' [Watch (HLS stream): Sen. John McCain, Ill With Brain Cancer, Tells Western Allies 'I Am Counting on You... to Never Give Up'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/V3ock2Uh.m3u8) (7:46)  _Published 2018-02-20. Cindy McCain accepted an award on behalf of her husband John McCain, who is ill with brain cancer, on Saturday night at the Munich Security Conference_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 11, 2018 3:49 PM UTC  Meghan McCain on The View on April 17, 2018. Meghan McCain on The View on April 17, 2018.Heidi Gutman—ABC/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 11, 2018 3:49 PM UTC Meghan McCain fired back against a White House aide who reportedly mocked and dismissed her father, Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is [battling brain cancer](http://time.com/5266703/friends-family-visit-john-mccain/). Earlier this week, Sen. McCain, who announced in July 2017 that he had been [diagnosed with brain cancer](http://time.com/4865775/john-mccain-brain-cancer-tumor-glioblastoma/), urged Senators to reject President Trump’s nominee for CIA director, [Gina Haspel](http://time.com/5270242/gina-haspel-cia-hearings/). “It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway,” White House aide Kelly Sadler said in response to McCain’s opposition during a closed-door meeting of White House communications staffers on Thursday, according [reports](https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/10/politics/white-house-kelly-sadler-john-mccain/index.html) by [multiple](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/387182-white-house-official-mocked-dying-mccain-at-internal-meeting) news [outlets](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-official-derides-mccain-over-haspel-opposition-hes-dying-anyway/2018/05/10/b8aa4422-54a2-11e8-a551-5b648abe29ef%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.98996fbaeaf6). “I don’t understand what kind of environment you’re working in where that would be acceptable, and you can come to work the next day and still have a job,” Meghan McCain said Friday on _the View_. “Kelly, here’s a little newsflash — and this may be a bit intense for 11 o’clock in the morning on a Friday — but we’re all dying. I’m dying, you’re dying, we’re all dying,” she added. “I really feel like I understand the meaning of life, and it is not how you die. It is how you live.” She said her father is “doing really well right now.” He has been receiving a stream of visitors from lawmakers and friends at his Arizona ranch. John McCain’s wife, Cindy, [also responded](http://time.com/5273706/cindy-john-mccain-response-kelly-sadler/) to Sadler on Thursday. “May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren,” she said in a tweet to Sadler. > [](https://twitter.com/cindymccain/status/994724759874109440) In another incident this week, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney appeared on Fox Business and mocked McCain’s history as a prisoner of war, saying torture “worked on John. That’s why they call him ‘Songbird John.'” Fox News and Fox Business Network said they have since cut ties with McInerney, [CNN reported](https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/994796321180667905). “My father’s legacy is going to be talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years,” Meghan McCain said Friday. “These people? Nothing burgers.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5274138/john-mccain-kelly-sadler-meghan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5274138/john-mccain-kelly-sadler-meghan/"},"headline":"'It Is Not How You Die. It Is How You Live.' 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