Aide who mocked McCain’s brain cancer diagnosis out at White House

PHOENIX — Kelly Sadler, the White House aide who mocked U.S. Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) brain cancer diagnosis in an internal meeting last month, no longer works in the administration, the White House confirmed Monday.

“Kelly Sadler is no longer employed within the Executive Office of the President,” Raj Shah, the principal deputy press secretary, said in a statement.

The news was first reported by CNN, who cited three sources with knowledge of the matter. The sources did not say whether Sadler was fired or if she left on her own accord.

Fox News also reported Monday that a senior administration official said Sadler left the White House, but that it was “unclear whether her departure” was tied to the McCain comment.

Sadler was a special assistant to the president when she reportedly said it did not matter whether the Arizona senator opposed Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director, because “he’s dying anyway.”

The White House refused to condemn the remarks in the aftermath, but White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told staffers that the comment was inappropriate but shouldn’t have been leaked to the media.

Some of McCain’s colleagues, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, said the White House should have done more to address the inappropriate comment.

But Sadler could return to the White House in a different capacity: Kellyanne Conway, a counselor to President Donald Trump, told reporters Wednesday that Sadler would be eligible for a variety of open administration jobs “if that’s the position she decides to take her career.”

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