Kelly Sadler, the former White House aide who was ousted after mocking the late Sen. John McCain, has been tapped as the new communications director for pro-Trump super PAC America First Action, CNN first reported on Friday.
“I’m really excited to do everything in my power to help reelect the President of the United States, by joining the great team at America First,” Sadler said in a statement to HuffPost. “The president is solving the problems the American people elected him to do, and I can’t wait to help him win another four years in office, so he can achieve even more.”
Sadler sparked outcry last May for reportedly dismissing McCain as “dying anyway” after the Arizona Republican announced his opposition to Trump’s nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel.
The White House never apologized for Sadler’s remark, but released a statement affirming respect for McCain, who was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. One White House official told CNN at the time that Sadler’s comment may have been meant as a “joke,” but “fell flat.”
Meghan McCain told ABC News after the remark leaked that Sadler had called her to personally apologize for disparaging her father.
“I asked her to publicly apologize and she said she would,” the talk show host said. “I have not spoken to her since and I assume that it will never come.”
The White House announced in June that Sadler was “no longer employed within the Executive Office of the President.”
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway suggested Sadler could find a job elsewhere in the administration, but she never did.
McCain died roughly two months later from an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Brian Walsh, the president of America First Action, praised Sadler in a statement to HuffPost.
“We are very proud to have Kelly Sadler join our team as we build towards victory in 2020. Her commitment to President Trump is unwavering and we are lucky to have someone of her talent and experience at America First,” he said.
