Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is still not willing to give up his crusade against the Affordable Care Act.
During an interview with ABC's "This Week" airing Sunday, Cruz said he believes Republicans could repeal "every single word" of President Barack Obama's signature legislation -- even while the president remains in office.
ABC's Jonathan Karl pressed Cruz to explain why he believes repeal is still worth pursuing:
KARL: We can acknowledge that that's not going to happen while Barack Obama is president, right?
CRUZ: Yes, I'll give you one scenario where it could. If there's one things that unifies politicians of both parties, you know, their top priority is preserving their own hide. And if enough Congressional Democrats realize they either stand with ObamaCare and lose, or they listen to the American people and have a chance at staying in office, that's the one scenario we could do it in 2015. If not, we'll do it in 2017.
KARL: So you honestly think there's a chance that you can get ObamaCare repealed, every word, as you say?
CRUZ: Every single word.
KARL: With Obama in the White House?
CRUZ: You know, what's funny, Jon, is the media treats that as a bizarre proposition.
KARL: Well, it is.
CRUZ: Because...
(CROSSTALK)
CRUZ: It is...
KARL: It is a bizarre proposition.
CRUZ: It is the most unpopular law in the country. Millions of people have lost their jobs, have lost their health care, have been forced into part-time work, have their premiums skyrocketing. And right now, Washington isn't listening to those people. That's how we win elections and that's also how we repeal ObamaCare.
The freshman senator has been one of the most vocal critics of the health care reform law. Last fall, he led the charge to tie funding for Obamacare to a continuing resolution to the fund the government -- a strategy that ultimately shut down the government for 16 days, cost $2 billion in lost productivity and made no changes to the health care law. The shutdown also took a toll on Cruz's popularity, with a CNN/ORC International poll finding the senator's approval rating dropping to 23 percent last October.
Cruz has said he has no regrets, and has instead tried to pin blame for the shutdown on his rivals.
"I think it was absolutely a mistake for President Obama and Harry Reid to force a government shutdown," Cruz told Karl in a December interview.
In January, Cruz again attempted to attach amendments defunding Obamacare to a major bill -- this time, the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending package. However, his Senate colleagues quickly shut down the proposal.
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