How John McCain got his revenge on Donald Trump with Obamacare repeal
'I thought it was the right thing to do,' the veteran senator said after delivering a hammer blow to his political adversary
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Your support makes all the difference.John McCain dramatically helped to defeat Donald Trump's healthcare bill three days after the President hailed him as a "brave American hero" for returning to the US Senate to vote.
The Arizona senator, who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, told reporters as he left Capitol Hill: "I thought it was the right thing to do."
His vote was decisive in killing off the Republican "skinny repeal" bill, which had sought to roll back Barack Obama's legislation.
It came after Mr McCain twice voted earlier this week to push forward the controversial bill, which critics had warned could lead to the deaths of 20,000 more people, as up to 22 million people lose health insurance coverage.
The veteran senator remained tight-lipped about his intentions before he reached the Senate floor early on Friday morning on a night of high suspense. He told reporters to "watch the show" as he entered the room.
His vote to reject the bill drew gasps in the chamber and applause from Democratic senators.
His defiance was a hammer blow to a key election promise of a US President who has long been an adversary of Mr McCain.
In 2015, Mr Trump said the Vietnam veteran - who spent five-and-a-half years in a notorious Hanoi prison - was "not a war hero".
"He was a war hero because he was captured? I like people who weren’t captured," said the billionaire businessman.
Conversely, Mr McCain has been a thorn in the President's side since he entered the White House, describing his administration as "in disarray" in February and later likening Mr Trump's attacks on the press to the behaviour of a dictator.
On Wednesday, he described Mr Trump's declaration that transgender people would barred from the military as "yet another example of why major policy announcements should not be made via Twitter".
The President adopted a more conciliatory tone ahead of Friday's crucial vote, tweeting: "So great that John McCain is coming back to vote."
But after seeing his bill defeated, he said Mr McCain and two other Republican senators had "let the American people down" by joining 48 Democrats in rejecting his proposals.
Mr McCain said he voted against repealing Obamacare because the bill "offered no replacement to actually reform our health care system and deliver affordable, quality health care to our citizens".
The Republication amendment, which was defeated 51 votes to 49, would have repealed a mandate that most individuals get health insurance and suspended a requirement that large companies provide coverage to their employees.
Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine also voted against it.
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