Congressman Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) was caught on video Tuesday night suggesting that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would once again disappoint his party by voting against an effort to repeal parts of Obamacare, because McCain is not long for this world.
“Something tells me McCain, he’s staring death in the face right now, so he’s probably going to make good choices,” Cartwright, a staunch supporter of Obamacare, told a town hall meeting at the Scheller Center of Lehigh Carbon Community College in Tamaqua, Pa.
Cartwright assured his audience that the legislation to repeal parts of Obamacare proposed by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) would likely fail, because McCain would not support it.
“The governor of Arizona came out in favor of the Lindsey Graham-Bill Cassidy bill, so that puts pressure on McCain,” Cartwright admitted, but he argued that because McCain is about to die (!) the senator is unlikely to “bend to political pressure.”
While Cartwright might be right in predicting that McCain, who shocked the Senate by voting down a measure to repeal parts of Obamacare in July, might again prop up Obama’s failing health care law, this callous suggestion that McCain’s health impacts his legislative decisions is below the belt.
America Rising PAC, an opposition research firm which trails Democratic candidates and captured the moment on video, responded to the Democrat congressman’s comments.
“For Congressman Cartwright to callously use the illness of an American hero for political reasons is both outrageous and offensive,” America Rising PAC Executive Director Alexandra Smith said in a statement. “Senator McCain deserves an immediate apology from the Congressman.”
PoliticsPA, a Pennsylvania outlet which covered the video, suggested that America Rising’s targeting of Cartwright “shows that Republicans are serious in their desire to flip the seat.” The Democrat congressman has yet to face a well-financed opponent.
While Barack Obama handily won Cartwright’s 17th congressional district in 2008 (57 percent to 42 percent) and 2012 (55 percent to 43 percent), President Donald Trump flipped the district last November, winning 54 percent to Hillary Clinton’s 43 percent. The National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) listed Cartwright’s district as the only Pennsylvania race among its top targets.
John Chrin, a former business teacher and financier, announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in May. He spent 20 years in investment banking, becoming a managing director at J.P. Morgan-Chase.
“The 17th District needs a representative in Congress with the practical business experience needed to enact real change and to bridge the divide to get things done,” Chrin said in a statement. “We need new leaders from outside the political system who are focused on serving the needs of the working families they represent.”
This will be a race to watch next year.
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