The senator says the GOP never had a chance at defunding Obamacare. McCain: ACA fight 'a fool's errand'

Sen. John McCain said Wednesday that there was never a chance of defunding Obamacare, blaming politicians who said it was possible for the current government shutdown.

“We started this on a fool’s errand, convincing so many millions of Americans and our supporters that we could defund Obamacare,” McCain (R-Ariz.) told Wolf Blitzer on CNN. “[That] obviously wouldn’t happen until we had 67 Republican senators to override a presidential veto.”


McCain stopped short of naming any of his colleagues specifically when asked who was to blame for the shutdown, but he did say that he believes those who initially advocated for tying the president’s signature health care law to budget negotiations were responsible.

“[It was] the people that convinced so many millions of Americans, tea partiers specifically we’re talking about, that there was some way to defund Obamacare. We can’t,” McCain said.

Negotiations to end the government shutdown have become entangled with discussions over the debt ceiling in recent days. According to the Treasury, the debt ceiling must be lifted by Oct. 17 to avoid a default on the government’s debt.

That deadline has been questioned by conservatives who insist incoming daily revenues will allow the government to continue paying interest on its debt, thereby avoiding a default altogether.

McCain stressed that such an option could still be disastrous.

“Technically they may be correct, because there are tax revenues coming in,” McCain said. “But I know some people on Wall Street that are telling me that the markets would react in a very, very negative fashion.

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