Sen. John McCain’s death draws outpouring of support from across political spectrum

FAN Editor

Political allies and foes alike offered heartfelt condolences after the passing of Sen. John McCain Saturday night.

Everyone from President Donald Trump, who had a rocky relationship with the longtime senator, to former President Barack Obama, his opponent in the 2008 presidential campaign, to Sarah Palin, his former running mate, were saddened by McCain’s death.

“My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain,” the President Trump tweeted. “Our hearts and prayers are with you!”

First lady Melania Trump also took to Twitter to express condolences, writing, “Our thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathy to the McCain Family. Thank you Senator McCain for your service to the nation.”

Obama said he and McCain competed “at the highest level of politics.”

“But 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. “We saw our political battles, even, as a privilege, something noble, an opportunity to serve as stewards of those high ideals at home, and to advance them around the world.

“We saw this country as a place where anything is possible –- and citizenship as our patriotic obligation to ensure it forever remains that way,” the statement continued.

“Sen. John McCain was a maverick and a fighter, never afraid to stand for his beliefs,” she said in a tweet. “John never took the easy path in life — and through sacrifice and suffering he inspired others to serve something greater than self.

“John McCain was my friend,” she continued. “I will remember the good times. My family and I send prayers for Cindy and the McCain family.”

The 81-year-old Republican senior senator from Arizona and Vietnam War veteran revealed last summer that he had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a fast-growing, aggressive type of brain tumor. In a statement released Friday morning, the McCain family said he has “surpassed expectations for survival” in the past year, but that the “progress of the disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict.”

Cindy McCain tweeted after his passing that her “heart is broken.”

“I am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years,” she said. “He passed the way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved, in the the place he loved best.”

Former President George W. Bush issued as statement saying, “Some lives are so vivid, it is difficult to imagine them ended. Some voices are so vibrant, it is hard to think of them stilled. John McCain was a man of deep conviction and a patriot of the highest order.”

“He was a public servant in the finest traditions of our country. And to me, he was a friend whom I’ll deeply miss. Laura and I send our heartfelt sympathies to Cindy and the entire fMcCain family, and our thanks to God for the life of John McCain.”

Earlier in the day, she thanked well-wishers for their support.

“The entire McCain family is overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from around the world. Thank you,” Cindy McCain, who has been married to her husband for 38 years, wrote on Twitter Saturday morning.

The senator’s daughter, Meghan McCain, said: “I love you forever — my beloved father.”

ABC News’ Meghan Keneally contributed to this report.

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