"You know? The fact is that the Republicans have spoken, and I just honestly, I just don't see the scenario," said McCain. | AP Photo McCain bats down third-party Trump challenger talk

Donald Trump was not John McCain's first choice for the Republican nomination, but the Arizona Republican said Wednesday that the likelihood that an independent challenger could emerge to outflank the party's presumptive nominee is hard to imagine.

"I just think the people have spoken," the senator told radio host Hugh Hewitt on his show.


To make his point, McCain recalled the late Rep. Morris Udall (D-Ariz.), who he called "one of the most amusing guys that ever lived."

When Udall lost the 1976 Democratic nomination to Jimmy Carter, McCain recalled, Udall said, "The people have spoken, the bastards."

"And so, so I kind of feel a bit like Mo Udall," McCain said. "You know? The fact is that the Republicans have spoken, and I just honestly, I just don't see the scenario."

Though Udall made the statement after losing the nomination to Carter, he was not the first to utter the phrase. Dick Tuck made the infamous remark in 1966 after finishing third in the California Democratic primary for state Senate.