John McCain Accidentally Voted “No” on Obamacare Repeal-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Senator John McCain accidentally voted against a GOP Senate bill to repeal Obamacare in July 2017, dooming the bill to failure
The Truth:
A self-described satirical website is behind bogus claims that John McCain accidentally voted “no” on the Senate’s Obamacare repeal bill in July 2017.
The story first appeared at Empire News on July 29, 2017, under the headline, “John McCain Says He ‘Accidentally’ Voted No On Healthcare Repeal: ‘My Brain Tumor Got The Best of Me!’“
The report claims that McCain admitted he’d made a mistake when he “no” on the Senate GOP plan to repeal Obamacare now and to come up with an alternative later:
“I momentarily lost my senses, and literally couldn’t remember which way was up, and which was down,” said McCain, speaking from his home, where doctors have put him on bedrest. “I meant, of course, to vote TO repeal it, as was the plan. As I’ve mentioned before. There’s nothing that Republicans like doing more than screwing the entire country, and so naturally I should have given a thumbs-up. I swear I did. This brain tumor is really taking its toll.”
Empire News is a fairly well-known (and self-described) satirical publication. It’s disclaimer makes clear that the site is “intended for entertainment purposes only” and that the site only uses real names “in cases of public figure and celebrity parody or satirization.”
By August 1, however, the Empire News report had been re-reported by international websites known for spreading misinformation during the 2016 campaign to cash in on ad revenue from American readers. The domain for one of those sites, AmericanNews88.com, is registered in Macedonia, which has become known as a hotbed for misinformation sites that replicate right-wing news sites with names that sound credible (like American News) and publish fabricated reports.
There have been various theories about why John McCain voted no on the Obamacare repeal, and Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) said in an interview on August 9, 2017, that McCain’s brain cancer might have been a factor. But the idea that McCain accidentally voted “no” isn’t supported by facts.