Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said on Thursday that a comment he made about Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., voting down the Obamacare repeal was misconstrued.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said on Thursday that a comment he made about Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., voting down the Obamacare repeal was “misconstrued.”
“I think my comments were completely misconstrued. I was trying, first of all, to defend John’s position, ” Johnson said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“A lot of us were pretty upset about the process, and I was also just being sympathetic with his condition… I’ve got nothing but a great deal of respect for John McCain, ” Johnson said in the CNBC interview.
On Wednesday, Johnson made a comment on a Chicago radio station that McCain’s brain cancer diagnosis could have had an effect on his voting down the repeal.
“I’m not going to speak for John McCain — he has a brain tumor right now — that vote occurred at 1: 30 in the morning, some of that might have factored in, ” Johnson said on “Chicago’s Morning Answer.”
“It is bizarre and deeply unfortunate that Senator Johnson would question the judgment of a colleague and a friend, ” said Julie Tarallo, McCain spokeswoman, after Johnson’s radio comment.
Also on Thursday, Johnson credited McCain during an appearance on CNN’s “New Day.”
. @SenRonJohnson explains his comments about Senator McCain: “I have the deepest respect for” him https: //t.co/eYil1StFj8
“I just have the greatest respect for John McCain… he’s not impaired in any way, shape, or form, ” Johnson said in the “New Day” interview.
