'It Is Not How You Die. It Is How You Live.' Meghan McCain Fires Back at White House Aide Who Mocked 'Dying' John McCain

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.

Earlier this week, Sen. McCain, who announced in July 2017 that he had been diagnosed with brain cancer, urged Senators to reject President Trump’s nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel.

“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 by multiple news outlets.

“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 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.

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.

“My father’s legacy is going to be talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years,” Meghan McCain said Friday. “These people? Nothing burgers.”

Write to Katie Reilly at Katie.Reilly@time.com.