Grover Norquist goes off on Obamacare "defunders"

"I think if you make a mistake as big as what they did, you owe your fellow senators and congressmen a big apology"

Published October 16, 2013 9:15PM (EDT)

Grover Norquist                             (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
Grover Norquist (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

In an interview with National Review, Grover Norquist continued his long-running (and thinly veiled) campaign against Ted Cruz, telling the magazine that Cruz and company owe their fellow legislators — as well as their constituents — "a big apology."

"I think if you make a mistake as big as what they did," Norquist said, "you owe your fellow senators and congressmen a big apology — and your constituents, as well, because nothing they did advanced the cause of repealing or dismantling Obamacare."

“They hurt the conservative movement," Norquist continued, "they hurt people’s health care, they hurt the country’s economic situation and they hurt the Republican party. And a lot of congressmen and senators are not going to win because we spent three months chasing our own tail — or at least, parts of the conservative movement spent three months chasing their own tail."

Norquist went on to compare the Obamacare "defunders" to those who promoted the recent war in Iraq, claiming that both groups never had a real strategy to achieve their respective goals.


By Elias Isquith

Elias Isquith is a former Salon staff writer.

MORE FROM Elias Isquith


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Debt Ceiling Government Shutdown Grover Norquist Mike Lee Obamacare Ted Cruz