Yesterday, the Senate voted to begin debate on their bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. The vote passed by the slimmest margin possible, with Vice President Mike Pence casting a tie-breaker.
It wouldn’t have come to that if just one more Republican senator had come out against the bill, and the internet knew solely where to place the blame: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
McCain was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, and there was a sentiment that perhaps the shocking diagnosis would flip McCain away from the Republican bill, which would, per the CBO score, drastically increase the number of uninsured Americans.
But McCain, who has prided himself on being a maverick and a straight talker, instead voted to allow debate on the bill to proceed. The irony was not lost on the internet. It was not lost at all.
https://twitter.com/nerdwich/status/889961466941591554
https://twitter.com/MahmoudBidgoli/status/889943771974127617
https://twitter.com/Bravo_Kilo/status/889943602574614529
https://twitter.com/charleslebadger/status/889937417465077760
McCain has been an interesting point of internet contention over the past week. After an outpouring of support in the wake of his cancer diagnosis, a simmering backlash erupted. Despite not wanting to wish ill on the man, many believed that the long-serving senator wasn’t deserving of the praise he was getting. Many on the left see McCain as a fraudster, outwardly positioning himself as above party politics but in reality never taking any action that isn’t actually parroting the Republican platform.
After his vote, McCain issued a statement explaining his action.
I voted for the motion to proceed to open debate on healthcare, but I will not vote for the bill as it is today https://t.co/Xuf4oHNJqV pic.twitter.com/7iTV1OqmrP
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) July 25, 2017
McCain also took to the Senate floor to deliver a speech that admonished the Senate for its current state, adding that while he believed debate on the bill should proceed, he did not think that the bill in its current form should pass.
That was too much for some, who thought he could have produced a very similar effect—or perhaps sent an even louder message—by voting down the motion to proceed.
John McCain left hospital stay paid by taxes on flight paid by taxes to remove health insurance from taxpayers. And we paid him to do it.
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) July 25, 2017
Exactly. The irony of someone able to make the vote, bc of healthcare, voting to deny coverage for millions of others. Sad legacy. https://t.co/8gxNxv7XT1
— Wendy Davis (@wendydavis) July 26, 2017
as you listen to mccain’s speech pls remember that he says a lot of shit about decorum and ALWAYS votes for the most morally depraved option
— Ashley Feinberg (ashleyfeinberg.bsky.social) (@ashleyfeinberg) July 25, 2017
This McCain speech would have a little more oomph if he had taken his own advice and voted against poor congressional procedure.
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) July 25, 2017
In the movies, John McCain hauls himself from his sickbed, delivers the big speech, then votes No. This ain’t the movies.
— David Frum (@davidfrum) July 25, 2017
McCain, after voting to proceed with unprecedentedly secretive process, is giving a general speech decrying a decline in Senate procedure.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/889927858105327617
McCain's "yes" vote followed by this speech complaining about procedure is the perfect encapsulation of his all talk, no action approach.
— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) July 25, 2017
Late last night, after his impassioned speech, McCain voted in favor of the plan he had just spent the day decrying. It, however, failed 43-57.