Commentator Michelle Malkin has refused to apologize for hitting out at "the ghost of John McCain" during her speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), despite upsetting the late senator's family.
In her address on 1 March, Malkin blamed McCain, along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former House Speaker Paul Ryan, for the growth in sanctuary cities—a move that was criticized by McCain's wife Cindy and daughter Meghan.
"Sanctuary cities have metastasized and both parties are to blame… and yes, I'm looking at you, retired Paul Ryan; and yes, I'm looking at you, Mitch McConnell; and yes, I'm looking at you, Bush family; and yes, I'm looking at you, the ghost of John McCain," she said.
Questioned about her controversial comment in an interview with Fox News on Saturday, Malkin was unrepentant, refusing to offer an apology to the family of McCain, who died in August 2018 following a diagnosis of brain cancer.
Asked by Fox News host Jesse Watters whether she regretted her comments at CPAC, Malkin replied: "Of course not. I think if you look at the full context of my remarks and, by the way, you can watch the whole speech in context, 20 minutes, on my website, you will see that what people were cheering."
And as well as refusing to apologise for her comments, Malkin once again mentioned the spectre of McCain, adding: "The fact is that the ghost of John McCain and all the other big business Chamber of Commerce-type Republicans that have been selling out the American people, that is where the Republican Party needs to reconnect and they can't simply rely on the Democrat party falling apart."
Pressed on whether Meghan McCain was due an apology after being upset by the comments, Malkin added: "No, the big business Republicans, Chamber of Commerce and the people who are blocking the agenda that put Trump in office should apologize to America."
Both Meghan and Cindy McCain have spoken openly about the late senator, and were quick to leap to his defence following CPAC.
@michellemalkin You never knew @SenJohnMcCain . You should be so lucky.
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) March 2, 2019
Cindy McCain tweeted a direct message at Malkin, writing: "@michellemalkin You never knew @SenJohnMcCain . You should be so lucky." Meghan McCain, who is a co-host on The View, took a swipe at Malkin by retweeting a comment from political commentator S.E. Cupp, who responded to the McCain jibe with the message: "CPAC was once a place to exchange conservative ideas. Now it's just a place for agitprop and mean-spirited garbage."
