McConnell on healthcare failure: 'Feel better, Hillary Clinton could be president'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) looked to rally Republicans on Saturday in the wake of the Senate GOP's failure to pass an ObamaCare repeal bill last week.

"I choose not to dwell on situations where we come up a little bit short," McConnell said during a surprise appearance at a Republican event in Kentucky, according to local radio station WFPL.

"Even on the night when we came up one vote short of our dream to repeal and replace Obamacare, here's the first thing I thought about: feel better, Hillary Clinton could be president," he added.

McConnell's comments come as lawmakers have returned to their home districts for the August recess after Senate GOP efforts to fulfill their seven-year campaign promise to repeal and replace ObamaCare collapsed last week in the Senate, with a scaled-down repeal bill narrowly failing.

President Trump has recently pushed Senate Republicans to abolish the legislative filibuster and bring back efforts to repeal and replace the 2010 healthcare law, however Republicans appear poised to move on to other issues such as tax reform.

This appeared on The Hill on August 5, 2017