Joe Biden consoles Meghan McCain over her father's cancer diagnosis

'You have to have hope.'
 By 
Brian Koerber
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

An emotional moment between former Vice President Joe Biden and Meghan McCain occurred on The View on Wednesday.

Meghan's father Senator John McCain was diagnosed with glioblastoma six months ago, an aggressive brain cancer that sadly carries a low survival rate. Despite undergoing an operation, McCain has continued to serve on the United States Senate, famously thwarting his own party's attempt at repealing Obamacare this summer.

Biden's son Beau passed away in 2015 from the same cancer. So, when he made an appearance on the talk show, Meghan started off by telling Biden that she was unable to finish his book, Promise Me, Dad, and that she thought about Beau every day. As Meghan became emotional, Biden immediately stepped in, switching seat to get closer and to console her.

"Look, one of the things that gave Beau courage—my word—was John. Your dad, you may remember when you were a little kid, your dad, took care of my Beau. Your dad... became friends with Beau. And Beau talked about your dad’s courage—not about illness—but about his courage,” Biden told Megan.

Biden then spoke about some of the scientific breakthroughs that have occurred recently, in an attempt at telling Meghan that there is some hope for her father's condition.

At the exact right moment, Biden swooped in with some much needed comedy, joking about how he and McCain had very different political views, but the two could still depend on each other to be there for one another.

"The thing that I found—and Beau insisted on, your dad is going to insist on—is you’ve got to maintain hope. There's hope. You have to have hope," Biden said, encouraging Meghan.

"I swear, guys, we are gonna beat this damn disease," Biden concluded as the audience applauded.

Topics Health Joe Biden

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Brian Koerber

Brian was the Culture Editor and has been working at Mashable on the web culture desk since 2014.

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