The White House signaled Monday that communications aide Kelly Sadler or other officials in the White House will not issue a public apology for mocking Sen. John McCain’s brain cancer diagnosis during a staff meeting last week, something the Arizona lawmaker’s family said Sadler had previously promised to do.
“I understand the focus on this issue, but it has been dealt with internally,” deputy press secretary Raj Shah told reporters when asked why there has been no public apology. He declined to say whether Sadler, who remains in her position, has been reprimanded for her controversial comment.
Sadler called McCain’s daughter Meghan last week before anonymous White House sources leaked a comment she made about how his opposition to President Trump’s CIA nominee Gina Haspel doesn’t matter anymore because “he’s dying anyway.” McCain later wrote on Twitter that Sadler had promised a public apology was coming, something she had not yet done by Monday.
“I was told Kelly Sadler called the McCain family late last week and apologized. I was told she made it prior to the story being published … She apologized directly to the family,” Shah said. He added that if he revealed how the situation was dealt with inside the West Wing, “it will not remain internal.”
The White House, meanwhile, has complained about the comment being leaked to reporters, claiming such actions devastate morale within the White House communications office. A meeting about the situation, during which press secretary Sarah Sanders blasted her colleagues for sharing such information with the press, also leaked to reporters over the weekend.
“When you work in any work environment, if you aren’t able in internal meetings to speak your mind or convey thoughts, or say anything you feel without feeling like your colleagues will betray you, that creates a very difficult work environment,” Shah said.
Several Republican lawmakers, including McCain’s close friend Sen. Lindsey Graham, S.C., have called on both the White House and Sadler to issue an apology.
