Anthony Scaramucci has defended aide Kelly Sadler for her 'dying' joke about John McCain and has called for the White House official who leaked the news to be fired.

The former White House Communications Director took to Twitter on Saturday to call the leaking 'inexcusable', adding that 'the people who leaked that are gross and should be fired.'

In another Tweet 'The Mooch' added: 'If we fired people for every misstatement, everyone would be out of work. It is the breach of trust that is firable.'

Last week Sadler told colleagues in an internal meting that President Donald Trump shouldn't worry about Sen McCain's opposition to CIA director-designate Gina Hsaspel's nomination because 'he's dying anyway'.

Her comments have sparked outrage by the McCain family and public figures including Mitt Romney and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Republican senator is currently fighting terminal brain cancer.

Anthony Scaramucci has defended Kelly Sadler for her joke about Sen John McCain last week

The former communications director said the person who leaked the news should be fired

The 'inexcusable' comments made by Sadler sparked criticism of insensitivity as Sen McCain is fighting terminal brain cancer

Republican candidate Mitt Romney shared his anger over Sadler's comments on Twitter, saying anyone who mocked the Arizona Senator 'only humiliate themselves'.

'John McCain makes America great. Father, grandfather, Navy pilot, POW hero bound by honor, an incomparable and irrepressible statesman,' he wrote.

'Those who mock such greatness only humiliate themselves and their silent accomplices.'

McCain was also defended by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said the comments and the associated fall-out should be a 'wake-up call to all Americans to think about how we speak to each other about our politics'.

The movie star said the war veteran was a 'hero who has given his entire life in service to this country'.

On Friday, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders would not apologize for the remark, and confirmed to reporters Sadler was still employed at the White House.

Despite efforts from the President and senior staff to clamp down on whistleblowers, information from the White House continues to leak to the press.

Later on Friday, Sanders held a meeting with the White House communications team, where she was allegedly more upset about the fact Sadler's comment had leaked, than the comment itself, Axios reported.

Communications aide Kelly Sadler said Trump shouldn't worry about McCain because 'he's dying anyway'

Sanders' fury and sadness were said to be visible to those in the room, as she told off staff for sharing the content of internal meetings with the press.

'I know this conversation is going to leak too, and that's just disgusting,' she said.

During the meeting, a senior staff member reportedly stepped forward to defend Sadler's remark.

Strategic communications director Mercedes Schlapp said: 'You can put this on the record... I stand with Kelly Sadler'.

Sanders encouraged the rest of the communications staff to stand behind Sadler, not because of her comment, but because she was the victim of a leak.

A source who was in the meeting told Axios Sanders had told staff Sadler was out of line, but the Press Secretary was angrier about the leak.

She said the leak was 'selfish' and criticized using the press to air internal grievances.

Sanders also reportedly told staff the leak had dampened what was meant to be a good day for the White House, as three American prisoners were freed by North Korea.

Arizona Republican Senator John McCain (pictured) is suffering from brain cancer and recuperating after a recent surgery, but could hold the deciding vote as to who becomes CIA director if he is well enough to return to Washington

Fellow Republican Mitt Romney said anyone who mocked John McCain only served to 'humiliate themselves'

Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a lengthy comment in defense of John McCain on Saturday

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders (left) told reporters Friday that communications aide Kelly Sadler (right) still has her job despite mocking Sen. John McCain's battle with cancer, and later defended the aide to other staff

Sanders ultimately told a dogged White House press corps that there had been no sacking in the West Wing over the latest scandal to rankle the president.

McCain is recovering from brain surgery in Arizona, and has begun to talk publicly about his wishes for his funeral. He has pointedly said he doesn't want President Donald Trump to attend.

McCain has been openly hostile to President Trump's decisions, but Sadler told staff his opinion didn't matter because: 'he's dying anyway'

Should he be healthy enough to return to Washington, he could cast a deciding vote in a tough roll call on Haspel's nomination.

Sadler has yet to comment about her flippant jab at McCain. It is not known if either she or the White House has apologized to the McCain family.

A source told the Hill on Thursday Sadler had called McCain's daughter, Megan, but the contents of that phone conversation is not known.

Comments from White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney on Saturday suggest there may not be any public apology forthcoming.

'You have to have some freedom to speak, in a private meeting, candidly,' he told Fox News, calling Sadler's comment a 'bad joke'.

'I'm really disappointed that someone would undermine the President by leaking... clearly the leak was designed to hurt that person.

'It also ignored the harm it would do to the McCain family, which is doubly inconsiderate.'

Sadler, a mother-of-three, is a former opinion editor for The Washington Times. She's married to Frank Sadler, who previously served as 2016 presidential campaign manager for Carly Fiorina – another outspoken Trump critic.

The senator's daughter Meghan, a regular co-host on 'The View,' said on the show Friday that Sadler is unimportant and – unlike her father – won't be remembered for long.

Before confirming Sadler's continued employment on Friday, Sanders initially dodged DailyMail.com's question, refusing to 'validate a leak out of an internal staff meeting, one way or another'

Mrs. Cindy McCain, the senator's wife tweeted a stern message directly to Sadler on Thursday after news of the comment broke

'Kelly, here's a little news flash, and this this may be a bit intense for 11 o'clock in the morning on a Friday,' Meghan McCain declared, but we're all dying. I'm dying, you're dying, we're all dying. ... I really feel like I understand the meaning of life, and it's not how you die, but how you live.'

'The thing that surprised me most,' she continued, 'is I don't understand what kind of environment you're working in where that would be acceptable, and then you can come to work the next day and still have a job.'



'My father's legacy is going to be talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years,' she said. 'These people? Nothingburgers. Nobody's going to remember you.'

On Thursday the senator's wife Cindy hammered Sadler on Twitter, writing: 'May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren.'

'The View' co-host Meghan McCain, the senator's daughter, marveled on Friday that Sadler has been allowed to keep her White House position

Sen. McCain had urged lawmakers to reject Gina Haspel's nomination to lead the CIA, based on her role in the enhanced interrogation program during the Bush Administration

The White House hasn't denied the accuracy of reports about Sadler's comment to a group of two dozen fellow communication staffers. It issued a tepid statement praising the anti-Trump war hero McCain, who has called the president the equivalent of a tinhorn dictator.

'He has declined to distinguish the actions of our government from the crimes of despotic ones,' McCain writes in his forthcoming memoir. 'The appearance of toughness, or a reality show facsimile of toughness, seems to matter more than any of our values.'

A White House official tried to take the high road, saying in a statement that '[w]e respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time.'

Trump already has a history of touching a political 'third rail' by publicly bashing Sen. McCain. During a 2015 Republican candidate forum in Iowa, the future president doubted aloud whether McCain was really a war hero.

'He's a 'war hero' because he was captured,' Trump said then, referring to McCain's years undergoing torture as a prisoner of war.

'I like people who weren't captured.'

Minutes later in a scrum of reporters, Trump was asked about the bone spur in his heel that resulted in a medical deferment from the Vietnam War draft.

Which foot was it? Trump said he couldn't remember.