Sen. Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant HatchBottom line Bottom line Senate GOP divided over whether they'd fill Supreme Court vacancy MORE (R-Utah) on Thursday called ObamaCare supporters “the stupidest, dumbass people” he’s ever met.

Orrin made the comments during a speech at the American Enterprise Institute about the GOP tax overhaul, which repealed the ObamaCare individual mandate that most people purchase insurance or pay a fine.

“[We] finally did away with the individual mandate tax that was established under that wonderful bill called ObamaCare,” Hatch said during his remarks. “Now, if you didn’t catch on, I was being very sarcastic. That was the stupidest, dumbass bill that I’ve ever seen.”

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“Some of you may have loved it,” he continued. “If you do, you are one of the stupidest, dumbass people I’ve ever met. And there are a lot of them up there on Capitol Hill from time to time.”

A poll released Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that ObamaCare’s approval rating has reached 54 percent, its highest since the law went into effect in 2010.

A spokesman for Hatch told the Deseret News that the comments were “obviously” a joke.

"The comments were obviously made in jest, but what’s not a joke is the harm ObamaCare has caused for countless Utahns," the spokesman said.

Hatch is is retiring at the end of his term. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney Willard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyGOP set to release controversial Biden report McConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight Will Republicans' rank hypocrisy hinder their rush to replace Ginsburg? MORE (R) is running for his seat and is widely seen as the front-runner.