Bre Payton — a staff writer for the conservative news and opinion site The Federalist — has died at the age of 26 after a sudden illness.

The Federalist confirmed Payton's death on Friday, saying the writer died in San Diego, California. Payton's illness became widely public on Friday morning, after San Diego-area politician Morgan Murtaugh tweeted that she had found Payton, a friend, unconscious on Thursday morning.

A profile on CaringBridge.org shared by Murtaugh says that Payton was battling the flu and "possibly meningitis."

Murtaugh announced Payton's death on Twitter Friday prompting numerous tributes, including condolences from Meghan McCain — daughter of the late Sen. John McCain — and a column from Washington Examiner editor Philip Klein.

"Many of you may have known Bre as a feisty, funny, and sarcastic Federalist author or from her frequent appearances on television. But anybody who met her in real life mainly knew her as a wonderful person," Klein wrote.

Payton recently appeared on Fox News, criticizing media coverage of Melania Trump as "sexist." In a Fox and Friends appearance earlier in 2018, she criticized media coverage of President Donald Trump as "fake, fake, fake news."

Tributes to Payton and condolences to her family began circulating on social media on Friday: