Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kelli Ward compared political correctness to cancer on Monday, just two days after Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainAnalysis: Biden victory, Democratic sweep would bring biggest boost to economy The Memo: Trump's strengths complicate election picture Mark Kelly: Arizona Senate race winner should be sworn in 'promptly' MORE (R-Ariz.) died of brain cancer.

“Political correctness is like a cancer!” Ward tweeted.

Political correctness is like a cancer! — Dr. Kelli Ward (@kelliwardaz) August 27, 2018

McCain, who was a six-term United States senator from Arizona, died Saturday, a little more than a year after his diagnosis. He was 81.

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Ward sparked criticism earlier Saturday when she suggested that a Friday statement issued by McCain’s family about discontinuing treatment for his cancer was intended to hurt her campaign.

"I think they wanted to have a particular narrative that they hope is negative to me,” Ward commented on a since-deleted Facebook post by one of her campaign staffers who questioned the timing of the McCain family’s statement.

McCain died hours after she made the comment. In another Facebook comment, Ward appeared to blame the media for the reaction to her initial remarks.

"The media loves a narrative. I’ve said again and again to pray for Senator McCain & his family,” Ward said. “These decisions are terrible to have to make. I feel compassion for him and his family as they go through this. It’s not the McCains creating a narrative — it’s the media making something out of nothing. The media, the left, and the Establishment have the agenda."

Ward is running in the Republican primary for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Jeff Flake Jeffrey (Jeff) Lane FlakeHow fast population growth made Arizona a swing state Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Republican former Michigan governor says he's voting for Biden MORE (R), who is retiring. Voters in Arizona will head to the polls Tuesday for the primary.

A poll conducted by Phoenix-based OH Predictive Insights in mid-June found that Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) held a 14-point lead over Ward in the primary race. But an NBC News–Marist poll from around the same time found McSally with only a 2-point advantage.