sfiting. and i wonder if he let himself go in some ways for that day to die on the same day as his friend teddy kennedy. wow. didn t even think of that possibility, david. you know, i want to you re on the phone with us. you may not be able to see the images. but i want to ask our director to play a moment. there were certain moments, david, as you ll remember, moments that really stood out in john mccain s life. one moment we just played it a moment ago, but this was that critical moment on the senate floor. this of course after the republicans took the white house under the control of the u.s. president donald trump. they controlled both the house and senate. and mccain s colleagues needed his vote for the complete repeal of obamacare. you saw it there. that move in dramatic flair, denying them the tint. david, that was a moment. and then i want to play this other moment. this was during the campaign when mccain was running against the then democratic candidate barack obama durin
they controlled both the senate and the house. mccain s colleagues needed his vote for the complete repeal of obamacare. and then he stepped in in dramatic flair and he denied them that opportunity. there was another moment i want to talk about. we can talk about it in a moment just to play for our viewers. this was during the campaign. 2008. when he was running against the then democratic candidate barack obama. during a town hall a woman accused mr. obama of being arab. look at how john mccain handled it. i can t trust obama. i have read about him, and he s not he s a he s an arab. he is not no, ma am. no? no, ma am. no, ma am. he s a decent family man, citizen that i just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. and that s what this campaign is all about. he s not.
floor. this of course after republicans took the white house under control of the u.s. president donald trump. they controlled both the house and senate. and mccain s colleagues needed his vote for the complete repeal of obamacare. you saw it there, that move in dramatic flair, denying them the opportunity. david, that was a moment. then i want to play this other moment, this was during the campaign when mccain was running against the then-democratic candidate barack obama during a town hall. a woman accused mr. obama of being an arab. this is how senator john mccain handled it. let s listen and watch. i can t trust obama. i have heard about him and he s not he s not he s a he s an arab. he is not no? no, ma am. no, ma am. he s a decent family man, citizen that i just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. and that s what this campaign is all about. he s not. thank you.
democrats was his finest recent hour, that was the moment he gave the thumbs down to the skinny repeal of obamacare. i was there. mr. peters? no. no. mr. courtland? john mccain entered the chamber gesturing to get the attention of the clerk, he was recognized with a thumbs down. he voted no. senator mccain kept people in suspen suspense. were you surprised he was a no on that vote? well, he had come up to me shortly before and told he he was going to vote no and he told a few otherings that were gathered around there and i know the vice president was still trying to lobby him on it but he stands up for his principles and in this moment in time he decided that he was going to
process that is washington today. and i think for a man like mccain, this moment allowed him to say i put my country before my party. when i saw the vote and the fact that john walked on to the floor and put thumbs down, i sat back and i said, that s my friend. that s the hero that i ve had. when you came back from arizona, did you always know you were going to do it? or did you make up your mind at the last moment? i made up my mind on the way back and what the alternative was which was frankly a nothing burger, a quote, skinny repeal whatever that means. that s not why i came to the senate, tom. however, in december of 2017, mccain, as he has on the majority of issues, did support the republican bill on tax reform, which included a repeal of obamacare s individual mandate. the tax cuts and jobs act is passed. his opposition to trump does not mean he is a liberal.