Vulnerable GOP senator pretends she never tried to kill Obamacare

When Republicans in Congress voted in May of 2017 to rip health insurance from millions of Americans by repealing Obamacare, Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) was so excited that she rallied her colleagues by saying, “Let’s get this fucking thing done!” That was back when McSally was still in the House and Republicans still thought tearing up the Affordable Care Act — including its crucial protections for Americans with pre-existing health conditions — was a winning issue.

But now that it’s clear Americans hate that idea, McSally seems to hope people will just forget that she was such a vocal champion of destroying the American health care system.

In a Monday interview with Chamber Business News, McSally said her position on health care is actually “not about” repealing Obamacare.

McSally looked directly into the camera and said: “It’s not about government-run health care, which is what some are offering. Or repealing Obamacare in its entirety.”

Yet repealing Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, is exactly what McSally voted to do over and over again when she was a member of the House of Representatives.

When McSally said “Let’s get this fucking thing done!” so enthusiastically, she was referring to a GOP bill that would have ripped away health care protections from people with pre-existing conditions and caused more than 20 million Americans to lose access to health insurance.

In addition to that 2017 vote, McSally voted in 2015 to repeal Obamacare in its entirety. And as far back as 2012, McSally was bragging about her votes to repeal Obamacare.

What changed?

In the 2018 Senate race in Arizona, McSally’s votes to rip away health care from millions of people likely helped her lose to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. During the campaign, McSally lied about her health care position by claiming she never voted to take away protections from people with pre-existing conditions.

Despite losing her election, McSally still managed to get appointed to the Senate by Arizona’s governor to serve out the remainder of Sen. John McCain’s term, which ends in 2020.

With an impending re-election battle, McSally seems to be banking on the idea that Arizonans will have a short memory when it comes to her .

Yet even so, McSally still hasn’t let up on her efforts to destroy parts of Obamacare. In April, McSally signed on to support a sham health care bill that could gut the law’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

McSally may be using nicer words to describe it this time, but her efforts to undermine health care remain as vulgar as ever.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.