Actors, comedians and politicians offered heartfelt tributes to Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday after battling brain cancer. He was 81.
A husband, father and political giant, McCain passed away at his home in Arizona one day after his family issued a statement saying he was discontinuing cancer treatment.
The war hero and former presidential candidate left Washington in December to focus on his health.
As news of his death spread Saturday, condolences poured in on social media.
The senator’s daughter, Meghan McCain, shared a touching remembrance, and said she was by her dad’s side as he “departed this life.”
“I was with my father at his end, as he was with me at my beginning,” Meghan wrote in a statement on Twitter. “In the thirty-three years we shared together, he raised me, taught me, corrected me, comforted me, encouraged me, and supported me in all things. He loved me, and I loved him.”
Her friend and fellow The View co-host, Whoopi Goldberg, said she was honored to have known the senator.
“Senator John McCain passed today, all i can think about..he never stopped trying to do his best: What an honor it’s been to know him,” Goldberg tweeted. “My condolences to the family he loved and adored and to his daughter & my friend @MeghanMcCain…from all my family, much love.”
Tom Hanks added: “Duty. Honor. Country. Our nation thanks you, John McCain. There has been no finer son of America.”
Jimmy Kimmel tweeted: “John McCain’s sacrifice and the sacrifices made by all our POWs and MIAs must never be forgotten.
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also remembered McCain.
“Each of us must strive for his dignity, his service, his commitment to country. He showed us the way,” Schwarzenegger tweeted.
Former President Barack Obama, who defeated McCain in 2008, said even though the two were from “completely different backgrounds,” they shared similar ideals.
“We shared, for all our differences, a fidelity to something higher — the ideals for which generations of Americans and immigrants alike have fought, marched and sacrificed,” Obama said in a statement on Twitter.
Our statement on the passing of Senator John McCain: pic.twitter.com/3GBjNYxoj5
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 26, 2018
Presidents Obama and George W. Bush have been asked to offer eulogies at McCain’s funeral, The New York Times reported. But no invitation was extended to President Trump, who frequently clashed with the Arizona senator.
McCain will lie in state in Phoenix, and in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. He will receive a full dress funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral, before being buried in Annapolis, Maryland.
You can read more tributes to Sen. McCain below.
An American hero. Rest in Peace #JohnMcCain
— Tamron Hall (@tamronhall) August 26, 2018
Thank you Sen. John McCain for fighting the good fight! God bless you.
— Mr. T (@MrT) August 26, 2018
Senator John McCain passed today, all i can think about..he never stopped trying to do his best. What an honor it’s been to know him. My condolences to the family he loved and adored and to his daughter & my friend @MeghanMcCain…from all my family, much love
— Whoopi Goldberg (@WhoopiGoldberg) August 26, 2018
Duty. Honor. Country. Our nation thanks you, John McCain. There has been no finer son of America… Hanx
— Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) August 26, 2018
America lost a real hero today. Condolences to @cindymccain, the McCain family and the Arizonans who were so fortunate to have the opportunity to vote for a man of principle. John McCain’s sacrifice and the sacrifices made by all our POWs and MIAs must never be forgotten.
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) August 26, 2018
A true American patriot & hero has passed.
John McCain was an example of a public policy maker who fought for what he believed in, and had the character & dignity to stand up for what was right — even if he had to oppose some of his colleagues to do so.— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) August 26, 2018
I will miss Senator McCain dearly, and my thoughts are with Cindy and Senator McCain’s whole family. What I said yesterday matters even more today. Each of us must strive for his dignity, his service, his commitment to country. He showed us the way. https://t.co/xwaumiDrJ0
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) August 26, 2018
