At a Friday meeting, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders took the communications staff to task over the leak of staffer Kelly Sadler’s comment about Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “dying anyway,” according to a Saturday Axios report.
“I am sure this conversation is going to leak, too. And that’s just disgusting,” she reportedly said.
Per Axios, Sanders called Sadler’s comment “inappropriate,” but said that that did not justify leaking it to the press, a move she called “selfish.”
Sadler made the comment about McCain’s opposition to CIA director nominee Gina Haspel’s confirmation, saying that it “didn’t matter” since he is “dying anyway.”
Sanders reportedly added at the meeting that Thursday should have been a banner day for the White House with the release of the North Korea captives, but that the news cycle was dominated by the damaging comment.
