Meghan McCain gives emotional tribute to father: 'John McCain was defined by love'

Meghan McCain, one of Sen. John McCain's daughters, was overcome with emotion in a stirring and tearful eulogy to her beloved father.

"John McCain was not defined by prison, by the Navy, by the Senate, by the Republican Party, or by any single one of the deeds in his absolutely extraordinary life," she said at Saturday's ceremony at the Washington National Cathedral. "John McCain was defined by love."

"The best of John McCain, the greatest of his titles and the most important of his roles, was father," she said.

"I am here before you today saying the words I have never wanted to say, giving the speech I have never wanted to give, feeling the loss I have never wanted to feel: My father is gone."

John McCain died last Saturday night of glioblastoma.

During his funeral service, his daughter, in an apparent shot at President Donald Trump, said, "We gather here to mourn the passing of American greatness. The real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly, nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who lived lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served. He was a great fire who burned bright."

In another apparent dig at Trump, she said, "The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great."

America mourns Senator John McCain

1 of 23

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., place a wreath near at the flag-draped casket bearing the remains of Sen. John McCain of Arizona during a ceremony in the Capitol rotunda, Aug. 31, 2018, in Washington.

Kevin Dietsch/AP

Through tears, Meghan McCain recalled a childhood moment when she fell off her horse and broke her collarbone.

After taking her to the doctor, she said her father made her get back on the horse.

Crying, Meghan McCain said she remembered the "pride and love in his eyes" as in that moment he told her, "Nothing is going to break you."

While as a child she said she was furious, now, she is grateful.

Senator John McCain through the years

1 of 27

Serving as a Navy pilot in the Vietnam War, John McCain III, was held as a prisoner of war for years after his warplane was shot down. Upon being released, he returned home and continued to serve his country through politics; first in the House of Representatives and then in the Senate. McCain also ran for president in 2000 and 2008, unsuccessfully, but still remains active in the Senate for the state of Arizona. John S. McCain III, center, as a young boy with his grandfather Vice Admiral John S. McCain Sr., left, and father Commander John S. McCain Jr. in family photo, 1940's.

Terry Ashe/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

"The rest of my life, whenever I fall down, I get back up," she said. "Whenever I'm brought low, I rise."

"When my father got sick," she said through tears, she asked him what he wanted her to say in her eulogy.

Her father replied, "Show them how tough you are."

"I know you can see this gathering here in this cathedral," she said to her father, through tears. "The nation is here to remember you."

Meghan McCain is a co-host of ABC's "The View."

Her emotional tribute was followed by a reading of the poem "The Requiem" by one of her brothers, Jimmy McCain.