McCain's 2 best friends were glad Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were at the late senator's memorial service

Screenshot via CNN

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman and Sen. Lindsey Graham appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.

• 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."

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:

• Trump wasn't invited to McCain's funeral, but his presence loomed large as political heavyweights praised McCain for rising above the 'politics of fear'
• Washington went all-out for John McCain's funeral - see how the ceremony unfolded
• George W. Bush, in eulogy for John McCain, celebrates McCain's courage and how he 'detested the abuse of power' and 'swaggering despots'
• In glowing eulogy for John McCain, Obama urges Americans to follow McCain's example and ignore 'mean and petty' politics 'born out of fear'
• 'America was always great': Meghan McCain delivered a fiery rebuke of Trump in an emotional eulogy at her father's funeral
• 'My name's Joe Biden. I'm a Democrat. And I loved John McCain.' Biden gives emotional eulogy at McCain's memorial service.
• Cindy McCain lays her head on her husband's casket in heartbreaking photos from John McCain's memorial in Arizona
• McCain wins the final round of his rivalry with Trump in his farewell to the American people