• Former Sen. Joe Lieberman and Sen. Lindsey Graham said they were happy Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner attended Saturday’s memorial service for the late Sen. John McCain.
  • Graham said the McCain family extended the invitation after Ivanka’s response after the senator’s death last week didn’t go unnoticed.
  • President Donald Trump was notably absent from the ceremony after he was asked not to attend, but several members of his administration were present.

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman and Sen. Lindsey Graham said they were happy Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner attended Saturday’s memorial service for the late Sen. John McCain.

Graham and Lieberman, who with the six-term Sen. McCain were known as “The Three Amigos“, appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” a day after 2,500 gathered in the Washington National Cathedral to pay their respects.

Host Dana Bash said she was “surprised” to see Trump and Kushner in the crowd, and asked Graham if he was responsible for extending an invitation to them, but he said it was the decision of McCain’s family.

“Nobody that was at the funeral didn’t get invited by the family,” Graham said. “Ivanka said nice things about Senator McCain after his passing, and it was not unnoticed by the family.”

White House adviser Ivanka Trump praised McCain's service during a speech at the Organization of American States conference on the empowerment of women on Monday.

"As we gather here today, I want to extend my deepest sympathies to the family of Senator John McCain, an American patriot who served our country with distinction for more than six decades," she said. "The nation is united in its grief and the world mourns the loss of a true hero and a great statesman."

Graham said the guest list was carefully selected by McCain's family, because "if you wanted to invite everyone who loved John McCain you could have filled up Yankee Stadium."

Lieberman said the couple sat right behind him and when he spoke to them after the ceremony, he thanked them "as John's friend," and they seemed to have enjoyed the service.

"They felt the whole service was a great tribute to him and elevating," Lieberman said. "Hopefully everybody is elevated by what happened there in the cathedral yesterday. And hopefully it will make the country better."

President Donald Trump was notably absent from the ceremony as he was asked not to attend. McCain was eulogized first by his daughter Meghan, then several political figures, including former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

Though none of the speakers mentioned him by name, several delivered pointed remarks about American politics and leadership Trump, who spent the morning at one of his golf courses in Sterling, Virginia.

Remembering John McCain: