During a Tuesday appearance on a local talk radio show, a Republican who voted in favor of repealing Obamacare suggested that the proposal may have ultimately failed due to Senator John McCain's brain cancer, CNN reports.

"I'm not going to speak for John McCain, you know, he has a brain tumor right now, that vote occurred at 1:30 in the morning, some of that might have factored in," Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson said on Chicago's Morning Answer.


In July, the Republican senator from Arizona had surgery to remove a blood clot, during which a doctor discovered an aggressive brain tumor. This got Republicans worried that they wouldn't be able to repeal Obamacare, because they could only afford to lose two votes, and McCain's absence would give them a single vote margin of error.

McCain ended up flying into Washington to vote in favor of bringing several healthcare bills to discussion—a move that had people bemoaning the hypocrisy of a man on the brink of death potentially helping to strip millions of Americans of health insurance. But on July 28, in one of the most dramatic Senate moments in recent history, McCain voted to kill the so-called Skinny Repeal of Obamacare at around 1:30 AM, effectively ending the seven-year quest by his party to squash the Affordable Care Act.

Johnson, a climate change skeptic and Tea Partier who was elected in 2010, apparently shocked the radio show's host with his comments.

"Really, I mean, he just had recovered from getting the [blood clot] removed and had flown all the way to Washington, DC," she replied. "But you really think that that played a factor in his judgment call?"

Johnson said that he really couldn't say what was on McCain's mind, given that he was expected to vote "yes" at 10:30 PM but unexpectedly did the opposite in the early morning hours.

"It is bizarre and deeply unfortunate that Senator Johnson would question the judgment of a colleague and friend," McCain spokeswoman Julie Tarallo said in a statement. "Senator McCain has been very open and clear about the reasons for his vote."

By Wednesday afternoon, Johnson seemed to walk back on his comments, saying, "I'm disappointed I didn't more eloquently express my sympathy for what Sen. McCain is going through. I have nothing but respect for him and the vote came at the end of a long day for everyone."