A White House communications aide who came under fire for reportedly mocking Senator John McCain’s health has left the White House, an official says.
“Kelly Sadler is no longer employed within the Executive Office of the President,” White House spokesman Raj Shah said in a statement on Tuesday.
During a closed-door meeting of White House staff last month, Sadler allegedly said the Republican senator’s opposition to Gina Haspel, whom US President Donald Trump nominated to lead the CIA, did not matter because he was “dying anyway.”
The leaked remarks led to a torrent of criticism from Washington, but neither Trump nor his staff publicly rebuked Sadler.
McCain has undergone surgery and is receiving treatment for an aggressive form of brain cancer. The 81-year-old has been at home in Arizona for months and has not returned to Capitol Hill this year.
