Washington (CNN) Two former friends of Sen. John McCain say his daughter Meghan McCain's pointed criticism of President Donald Trump in her speech at the Arizona Republican's memorial service on Saturday reflected the character of her late father. 
 
 "She is her father's daughter," South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "If you say something bad about her dad, you will know it, whether you're the janitor or the President of the United States. She is grieving for the father she adored. I think most Americans understand that." 
 
 Former independent Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who joined the program with Graham, said he was a "proud uncle" watching McCain's speech at the memorial service. 
 
 "She was direct ... the way John was," Lieberman said. 
 
 In her remarks on Saturday, McCain contrasted her father's legacy with Trump's rhetoric, saying, "The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again, because America was always great." 
 
 The comment received applause at the service and highlighted the broad differences between McCain and Trump, who was not invited to attend. 
 
 Graham and Lieberman were two of McCain's top allies in the Senate and his close friends -- they were often called the "three amigos" -- and their praise for his daughter came after she posted a photo of herself with them online reflecting that bond, calling the two senators her "uncles forever." 
 
 During Sunday's interview, the pair looked back fondly on their time with McCain and their travels together. 
 
 "His own attitude, the way he faced death with characteristic fearlessness and perspective, really comforted me," Lieberman said. "But you know, we're going to miss him. He's irreplaceable." 
 
 Graham, who offered an emotional tribute to McCain last week on the Senate floor, predicted McCain would be remembered as a cornerstone in Senate history. 
 
 "John loved the Senate," Graham said. "He was a man of the Senate. He loved the institution. When you write the history of the Senate, he's going to be in the first chapter." 
 
 Later in the interview, Graham said the responses to McCain's death showed the appreciation people had for military service, and he outlined a "formula" for those who wanted to engage in public service. 
 
 "Work hard, know what you're talking about, and people will listen to you," Graham said. "Pick a cause worthy of a good fight. Fight hard, and be willing to forgive, and ask for forgiveness. And above all else, when you make a mistake, admit it, repeat, repeat until you die, and the next thing you know, the nation will hold you up." ||||| A White House official called Meghan McCain on Thursday to apologize after she mocked Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainTrump stokes new unlikely feud Meghan McCain: Living without father like 'some awful parallel universe' Leon Panetta’s nightmare is today's national security crisis MORE’s (R-Ariz.) cancer diagnosis during a meeting earlier in the day, a source told The Hill. 
 
 The Hill first reported Thursday that special assistant Kelly Sadler brushed off the senator’s opposition to President Trump Donald John TrumpPaul Ryan defends Navy admiral after Trump's criticism Trump discussing visit overseas to troops following criticism: report Retired Army General: Trump is ‘acting like an 8th grader’ in attacking ex-Navy SEAL who led bin Laden operation MORE’s nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel, saying, “It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway.” 
 
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 Sadler later called the senator's daughter Meghan McCain to apologize, according to a source. 
 
 Meghan McCain has not publicly responded to the comments herself, beyond retweeting her mother, Cindy, who chided the White House official. 
 
 "May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren," Cindy McCain wrote. 
 
 @kellysadler45 May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren. — Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) May 10, 2018 
 
 Sources told The Hill that they believed Sadler's comment was intended as a joke, but that it did not go over well with others at the internal White House meeting. 
 
 Sadler did not respond to The Hill's request for comment, and the White House did not make her available for comment. 
 
 In a statement, the White House did not deny that Sadler made the remarks, which came amid a discussion of Haspel's nomination to lead the CIA and McCain's opposition to it. 
 
 “We respect Sen. McCain’s service to our nation, and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time,” the White House said. 
 
 McCain, 81, has been at home in Arizona in recent months recovering from treatment for brain cancer. 
 
 Jonathan Easley and Jordan Fabian contributed ||||| "I would apologize on behalf of the office," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said. | Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo Graham: White House staffer's McCain joke 'inappropriate' 
 
 Sen. Lindsey Graham urged the White House on Saturday to declare a joke by a communications staffer about Sen. John McCain dying as out of bounds and suggested President Donald Trump consider getting involved. 
 
 "If it was a joke, it was a terrible joke. I just wish somebody from the White House would tell the country that was inappropriate, that's not who we are in the Trump administration," the South Carolina Republican told "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan in an interview set to air Sunday. 
 
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 Graham said his longtime friend McCain (R-Ariz.) is not above criticisms of his past votes, but added that the former Vietnam prisoner of war is an "American hero." As to whether Trump should apologize on behalf of the White House, Graham said that's up to the president. 
 
 "I'll leave that up to him, but if something happened like that in my office — somebody in my office said such a, such a thing about somebody, I would apologize on behalf of the office," Graham said. 
 
 Then presidential candidate Trump said in July 2015 that McCain was not a war hero, adding “I like people who weren’t captured.” The president further scorned McCain after the Arizona senator cast the decisive vote when the Senate rejected a White House-backed push to dismantle Obamacare in July 2017. 
 
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 The Hill reported Thursday that White House communications aide Kelly Sadler dismissed McCain's opposition to Gina Haspel, Trump's pick to become CIA director, during a private meeting with a crude joke about the status of his health. 
 
 A number of GOP lawmakers have condemned Sadler's remarks, including McCain's fellow Arizona senator, Jeff Flake, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones and Pennsylvania Rep. Ryan Costello, who called on the White House to fire the aide. Numerous Democrats including former Vice President Joe Biden have also spoken out. 
 
 McCain is opposed to Haspel's nomination on the grounds of her history with the agency's use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, which McCain and others have labeled as torture. 
 
 The six-term senator was diagnosed with cancer in July and is receiving treatment and spending time with friends and family in Arizona. 
 
 On Saturday, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney stressed Sadler's comment was a "joke," adding the leaking of the remarks was intended to hurt the aide's status. 
 
 “This was a private meeting inside the White House," Mulvaney said on Fox News. "It was a joke. It was a badly considered joke, an awful joke that she said fell flat."
– On CNN's State of the Union, Sen. Lindsey Graham praised Meghan McCain as "her father's daughter" following her headline-grabbing eulogy to her dad that many said appeared to bash President Trump. Former Secretary of State John Kerry appeared on Face The Nation and bashed the country's current leadership while contrasting it to the late Sen. John McCain on the day of the frequently bipartisan Republican's burial. "Right now we have a culture divide that has been accentuated by political so-called leaders,” Kerry said, per the Hill. “They're operating in a fact-less world." Ohio Gov. John Kasich also appeared on Face The Nation and said that, should he choose to run for president in 2020, it would be as a Republican. Over on This Week, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged Dems to hold off on impeachment, per Politico.