President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) of misleading the White House about his vote in July 2017 on whether to repeal Obamacare.
Asked during a White House photo-op with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro why he attacked McCain seven months after his death, Trump said he was “very unhappy” that McCain “didn’t repeal and replace Obamacare, as you know.”
Trump added: “He told us hours before that he was going to repeal and replace, and then for some reason — I think I understand the reason — he ended up going thumbs (down). Frankly, had we even known that, I think we would have gotten the vote, because we could have somebody else. So I think that’s disgraceful.”
After that vote — contrary to Trump’s claim Tuesday — The New York Times reported that “McCain left his intentions secret until the end.” And TPM and other outlets reported before the vote on McCain’s public grievances with the process Republicans used to try to pass the repeal bill.
The President said “there are other things” that motivated him to attack McCain again. On Saturday and Sunday, he distorted McCain’s role in the giving the so-called “Steele Dossier” to the FBI.
“I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be,” Trump said before dismissing members of the media.
Trump claims John McCain told the WH he'd support the bill to repeal Obamacare before voting against the repeal bill. pic.twitter.com/FsqBUBAODI
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) March 19, 2019
