During a discussion on a potential deal to end the government shutdown, Megyn Kelly grilled Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) on conservative lawmakers' Obamacare strategy. She asked both Gohmert and Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) why they won't get out of the way and allow Obamacare be fully implemented so they can reap the political advantage if it fails.
"The question is whether you hurt the Republican party," Kelly said, adding that the current deal still gives Democrats everything they've wanted. "The debt limit is going to get raised, the government is going to resume…with no conditions. That's what Harry Reid wanted."
Huelskamp noted Democrats' unwillingness to compromise on anything in his response, while Gohmert again fell back on his principles.
"There’s no statute of limitations on doing what’s right," Gohmert said.
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 04: Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) heads for a House Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol October 4, 2013 in Washington, DC. 'This isn't some damn game,' Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) said about the current federal government shutdown. Credit: Getty Images
The Texas congressman went on to argue that deficit spending President Barack Obama has increased from $160 billion in former President George Bush's last year to $1.6 trillion the following year. Gohmert maintains that spending is out of control. He also said the Obama administration has stolen Americans' "doctor rights" under Obamacare.
Gohmert said conservative lawmakers are only asking for the Obama administration to delay the individual mandate in Obamacare to match the 1-year delay that the president "illegally" extended to big businesses.
"How is it right for Harry Reid to say, 'no, no, no, no,'?" he added.
Later in the segment, Kelly asked Gohmert why, if Obamacare is "imploding," they don't just stay out of it and build a case in 2014.
"I know that's one contention, but if Ted (Cruz) doesn't spend the filibuster, if we don't make this the focus -- we had already heard what was coming," Gohmert said. "As soon as we got beyond this summer, we were going to have an amnesty bill come to the floor -- that's what we would have been talking about and that's where the pivot would have been if we had not focused America on Obamacare."
Gohmert went on to say that it's not too late to get a vote on delaying the individual mandate in Obamacare if Republicans stand firm.
(H/T: Mediaite)
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