Chris Cuomo tangles with State spokeswoman over Trump aide’s McCain joke

CNN host Chris Cuomo repeatedly pressed State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Friday morning on whether the Trump administration should take action against the White House official who mocked Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) brain cancer diagnosis.

As first reported by The Hill on Thursday, communications aide Kelly Sadler responded to the Arizona senator’s opposition to Gina Haspel’s nomination for CIA director by joking that it doesn’t matter because “he’s dying anyway.”

Asked whether the Trump administration should speak out against Sadler’s comments, Nauert said she wasn’t “exactly sure” about the incident Cuomo was referring to.

“Really?” Cuomo retorted skeptically.

“We here at the State Department have been focused on the issues that you mentioned earlier,” Nauert said, referring to the Iran nuclear deal and President Trump’s planned summit with North Korea.

“I don’t know why you want to start this by being argumentative,” she added when the CNN host pressed her on the McCain insult.

{mosads}“I’m not being argumentative,” Cuomo said. “It’s a pretty easy question. I’m letting you say what you want in response, that’s your choice. But this isn’t politics, this is about decency.”

Though Nauert insisted she was “not familiar” with the incident, Cuomo did not drop the issue, explaining the story to her.

“I’ve seen that. I don’t know this individual. Now, thank you for telling me exactly what you’re referring to,” Nauert said. “I’m not familiar with it and I’ll leave it at that.” 

The two eventually moved on to foreign policy.

McCain’s wife, Cindy McCain, criticized Sadler for her remarks on Twitter Thursday night.

@kellysadler45 May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren.

— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) May 10, 2018

Though Sadler later apologized to McCain’s daughter, Meghan McCain, Trump has not yet commented publicly about the incident.