Ted Cruz once said that if Obamacare’s subsidies kicked in on January 1, 2014, repealing the Affordable Care Act would be impossible. Americans, he warned tea-party activists last summer, would become “addicted” to the handouts and “hooked on the subsidies.” Both Cruz and Utah senator Mike Lee invoked that argument when pressed about the timing and necessity of their push to defund Obamacare at the end of last year.


It appears, though, that the notoriously intransigent Texan has changed his mind. On a conference call with bloggers on Wednesday, Cruz said that even though the clock has ticked past January 1, repeal not only remains a possibility, but that it will happen. “The terrain has changed,” he said, “and I believe we will repeal Obamacare. I believe the American people have grown to understand what an absolute disaster this law is.”

Cruz, who referred to the law as a “Rube Goldberg contraption,” argued that his push to defund Obamacare had “elevated the national debate” and extended the timeframe for repeal beyond January 1. “I believe the momentum is building,” he said.

The Texas senator went on to lambaste the president for his failure, in Tuesday evening’s State of the Union address, to apologize to the millions of Americans whose healthcare plans have been canceled as a result of the Affordable Care Act, calling it a “stunning” move. “That was remarkable and it demonstrated an extreme unwillingness to listen to the concerned of millions of Americans who are hurting because of his failed policies,” he concluded.