Dave Chappelle was in Washington, D.C. this weekend to pay his final respects to John McCain. Just a day after he visited the late senator’s casket in the Capitol rotunda, Chappelle explained why he was inspired to attend the memorial service.
“Hey, man there's a video somewhere on the internet of John McCain dancing the robot with Jamie Foxx. And he looks so alive and so happy—it looked like so much fun,” he told TMZ. “And in these divisive times now, I like that he has become a symbol of national unity, so I came to pay my respects.”
The 45-year-old comedian posted a clip of the Arizona senator on Instagram earlier this week. The video shows McCain on stage with Foxx, dancing on the Apollo Theater stage for a charity event.
Chappelle said he wanted to attend the funeral service for Aretha Franklin, which also occurred over the weekend; however, he was unable to make it to Detroit, where the Queen of Soul was laid to rest.
McCain died last Saturday after battling an aggressive form of brain cancer. Political leaders like Barack Obama and George W. Bush gave eulogies at McCain’s funeral service on Aug. 25 at the Washington National Cathedral.
“We come to celebrate an extraordinary man, a warrior, a statesman, a patriot who embodied so much that is best in America,” Obama said about McCain. “He would maintain that buoyant spirit to the very end, too stubborn to sit still, opinionated as ever, fiercely devoted to his friends and, most of all, to his family.”
