Senate Republicans are set to have lunch on Tuesday with President Trump, and it's anyone's guess if their colleague Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will be a topic of discussion.
Politico spoke with several GOP senators who said they were not happy with a White House communications aide, Kelly Sadler, saying during a meeting that it "doesn't matter" if McCain opposes confirming CIA director nominee Gina Haspel because he's "dying anyway." McCain has an aggressive form of brain cancer, and while Sadler has privately called the McCain family, there's been no public apology from her or the White House.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said out of "common decency" both the White House and Sadler should apologize, and Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) agreed. "Everything happens for a reason," he said. "And sometimes the reason is you're stupid and made a bad decision. She ought to apologize publicly." Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) told Politico she hopes "we have a discussion about it" during the lunch, but Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said the matter has gone on for "five days" and "it's time for everyone to move on."
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Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist and friend of McCain's, isn't holding his breath that anyone will mention the comment to Trump during the lunch, no matter how mad they are, because "the modern condition of the Republican Party is such that it will be an anger that dare not speak its name out loud for risk of offending the leader."
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