Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., slammed Republican senators who have said they would vote against a bill to repeal ObamaCare, telling Fox News Tuesday night that "they've got some serious explaining to do when they go home."
"People ought to keep their promise," Paul told "The Story" host Martha MacCallum. "If people are no longer for repeal, they’re going to need to go home and explain to their voters why they said they were for repeal and now they’re no longer for repeal."
Paul was referring to Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ak., who said earlier Thursday that they would oppose an ObamaCare repeal bill without replacement legislation despite voting for a repeal measure in 2015.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced the vote on ObamaCare repeal would take place next week after a plan to replace the beleaguered health legislation collapsed for a second time.
Paul was a vocal critic of the Senate's ObamaCare replacement legislation, describing it as "a bunch of pork" and "an insurance bailout Superfund."
"If you vote for a Republican bill that keeps the [ObamaCare] death spiral and you simply say, ‘Oh, we’re going to subsidize it with $180 billion worth of taxpayer money,’ that’s not conservative, that’s not Republican, that’s not the free market, that’s not what we promised," Paul said. "I promised to vote for repeal and I’m going to keep my promise."
Paul also defended his fellow Kentuckian McConnell, telling MacCallum, "I don’t think the fault lies with leadership. I think the fault lies with those who promised to repeal and won’t now vote to repeal."