Meghan McCain on Friday urged people not to feel bad for her or her family in the wake of a White House staffer's comments about her father's cancer in connection with his opposition to CIA director-nominee Gina Haspel.
However, the daughter of ailing Republican Sen. John McCain still questioned the kind of workplace that would allow such things to be said.
"I'm not scared of death anymore, I'm just not, and whatever you want to say in this kind of environment," McCain said during a discussion on "The View," where she is a co-host. "The thing that surprises me most is, I don't understand what kind of environment you're working in when that would be acceptable and you can come to work the next day and still have a job."
The aide, Kelly Sadler, commented that "it doesn't matter; he's dying anyway," during a closed-door session with around two dozen communication officers at the White House early Thursday, while they discussed the ailing senator's opposition to Haspel. The White House has not denied the reports.
Sadler, who in charge of surrogate communications, contacted Meghan McCain to apologize, Fox News reported early Friday.
McCain urged those watching "The View" not to feel bad for her or her family.
"We're really strong," she said. "There is so much more love and prayer and amazing energy being generated towards us than anything negative at all, and I feel so blessed."
McCain also commented that her father is "actually doing really well right now," and that she believes in the power of prayer and thinks that's helping.
"I want to thank the positivity of people with that," she said.
McCain also said she has a "news flash" for Sadler: "We're all dying."
"I'm dying, you're dying, we're all dying," she said. "Since my dad has been diagnosed the past -- almost a year - July 19th, I feel like I understand the meaning of life, and it is not how you die. It's how you live."
McCain also pointed out that her father is "all about character and bipartisanship, and something greater than yourself and believing in this country and believing in the fact that we as Americans can still come together, and that's something that I grew up in and feeds me every day."
She also commented on remarks made by military analyst Thomas McInerney, who on Wednesday slammed her father's service in Vietnam and ridiculed the time he spent as a prisoner of war.
McInerney, while saying he supports the use of torture for obtaining intelligence, commented that the methods "worked on John ... that's why they call him 'Songbird John.' The fact is those methods can work, and they are effective.'"
"The point we were making yesterday, at some point when you are tortured, everyone breaks," Meghan McCain said of McInerney's comments. "That's how you get false information, and I want to emphasize, it was a hard day yesterday, but I'm surrounded by -- I get to come into work with women I have such affection for, and respect, and I have so much love about my family.
"My father's legacy will be talked about. These people, nothingburgers. Nobody will remember you."
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