--- 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 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=1200&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 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ff8916e6-08c5-46cd-9304-064085916f69&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## 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.” ## Transcript [00:00] John especially wanted to be here to receive the high [00:03] honor that you've so carefully bestowed on him this [00:06] evening. He asked me to join you in his place, [00:10] and to read a short statement from him to all of you. [00:16] To my dear and cherished friends, and to my worthy [00:20] adversaries, It breaks my heart that I cannot be with [00:23] you tonight. But as Cindy has no doubt told you after [00:27] may public consultations and polite disagreements [00:31] with our doctors I was strongly advised not to come to [00:35] Munich. As you all know, I never second guessed [00:39] the experts. I want to thank Joe Biden, [00:44] Wolfgang Ischinger, and all of my friends in Munich for [00:47] honoring me with the award named for a man who was [00:51] my hero, a visionary. An inspiration to [00:55] us all, and to the reason we are all here, [ UNKNOWN ] [01:01] Of all my many adventures and remembrances, Munich [01:06] always stands out, I think about my days [01:10] as a young navy captain escorting Senator John Tower [01:14] and his colleagues to this conference, and watching as [01:17] they help steer the transatlantic alliance through the [01:21] hedious days of the cold war I think about being with [01:25] Joe Biden and Bill Cohen. By the way, Bill Cohen was [01:28] the best man in our wedding. Bill Cohen, and so many [01:32] others who as we expanded NATO and [01:36] took it to war in the Balkans. And I will always [01:40] remember drinking schnapps With Joe Lieberman and [01:44] later Sheldon Whitehouse. I offer these [01:48] reflections not to bask in sentiment but because it [01:52] raises a deeper question. Why do we come to Munich? [01:56] Yes it is fun and friendships and fond [02:01] memories, But that is not why Ludwig Von Kleist [02:06] first brought the western world together here five [02:09] decades ago and why we come back year after [02:13] year. The real reason we come to Munich is because [02:17] we believe that certain values should order our world. [02:21] That the peace and prosperity we cherish depend on [02:25] the survival and success of those values. And that they [02:29] are worth the fighting for. We come to Munich [02:34] because we want to live in a world where truth [02:36] transcends falsehood. Sovereignty triumphs over [02:41] subjugation. Justice reigns over oppression. [02:46] Freedom overcomes tyranny. Where power is [02:49] transformed into legitimacy and the fate of people [02:54] and nations is determined by the rule of law and [02:58] not the whim of rulers. We come to Munich because we [03:02] know, and we can never afford to forget, that [03:07] the alternative to a world ordered by these values is a [03:11] dark and cruel place. Where laws, and rules, [03:15] and rights count for nothing, and selfish brute [03:19] force Trumps all. But put simply, [03:23] we come to Munich because sustaining our vision of [03:27] world order, what requires wealth and power and [03:31] realism, is not merely a material struggle, it's [03:36] a moral struggle. It's about the values that [03:40] will govern our world. That is why we are allies, that [03:44] is why we have stood by each other and sacrificed for [03:48] each other and invested in our common defense [03:53] and why we must continue to do so? My [03:57] friends, if there is a benefit that comes from a [04:01] advanced age It's the sense of perspective that [04:04] forward. I have been blessed with an extraordinary [04:08] life, I have experienced my share of hardship and [04:13] suffering and conflict but there is no [04:17] question that the world I have a good fortune to live in [04:21] is more peaceful. More prospers and [04:25] more fill with love and happiness and beauty and the [04:29] values we all cherish in the world my father and [04:32] grandfather knew. My youngest children have only [04:36] read about the Berlin wall, their world was never [04:39] divided by it, their lives were infected by a shadow. [04:44] But for those of us born before the Cold War, or during [04:47] the Cold War, that blessing was the achievement of a [04:51] quote long and twilight struggle. I remember [04:55] the enormous sacrifice it entailed. The many brave [04:59] souls, some of whom were my friends gave their lives [05:03] to secure it. I remember a span of more than half [05:07] a century, when for all our differences, Americans [05:11] maintained a bipartisan commitment to the freedom [05:15] and security of our allies. All together, [05:19] with our allies, we kept faith with those on the other [05:23] side of those walls. Principles that divided the [05:25] oppressed from the free. We [05:30] were confident they wanted the same things we did, [05:33] freedom, equal justice, the rule of law, [05:38] a fair change to prosper by their own industry and [05:41] talents. We kept the faith and we prevailed. This [05:46] is our greatest inheritance and it did not happened by [05:49] accident, it was born of imagination, and [05:53] resolve, and good service. Much of it rendered every [05:57] year, every year here in Munich. I have endeavored to [06:01] do my small part to defend the values we hold dear. [06:06] And I can assure you that the rewards I have derived [06:09] from this service are far greater than the contribution [06:11] that I have made. I find myself more and more [06:15] returning to the words of Marilyn Robinson. It has [06:19] seemed to me sometimes as though the Lord breathes [06:23] on the poor gray ember of creation, And it turns to [06:27] radiance for a moment, a year, or [06:34] a span of life. Whatever your turn your eyes and the [06:37] world can shine. It shines for transfiguration. [06:42] You don't have to bring a thing to it, except a little [06:46] willingness to see That is to acknowledge [06:51] that there is more beauty than our eyes can bear, that [06:55] precious things have been put into our hands, and [07:00] to do nothing more than to honor them would do great [07:02] harm. I am counting on on all of you as my friends. [07:08] To honour the precious beautiful [ UNKNOWN ] that still [07:11] entrusted in our care. I am counting on you to be [07:15] brave. I am counting on you to be useful. I am counting [07:20] on you to keep your faith and never give up though [07:24] the true radiant of our world may at times seem [07:27] obscured. Though we will never suffer adversity [07:31] and set backs and misfortune. Never ever [07:35] stop fighting for all that is good and just and [07:40] decent. Our world and each other thank you. [07:43] [ APPLAUSE ] ```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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