The hosts of Fox & Friends on Tuesday warned Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) that fewer and fewer people were backing his crusade to repeal President Barack Obama's health care reform law.
"I think at this point it is abundantly clear this thing it isn't working," Cruz told the Fox News hosts the morning after the White House announced that it was on track to meet its goal of 7 million enrollees. "You can't fiddle around the edges. I think it is the essence of pragmatism to recognize this thing isn't working, and let's start over, let's repeal every word of it."
"You know, you're kind of in a minority when it comes to that," host Steve Doocy pointed out. "You look at the polling, Senator, and a lot of Americans like parts of it, would like to see parts of it continue. So, to blow the whole thing up, I don't know if people are behind that."
Cruz, however, insisted that "every poll that's done" showed that the Affordable Care Act was the "profoundly most unpopular law we've seen in modern times."
"I think it's going to be repealed because I think the American people are demanding it," the Texas Republican added.
Co-host Brian Kilmeade reminded Cruz that Americans supported many provisions of the Affordable Care Act, like protecting people who have preexisting conditions.
"Are you going to go through elements of that to replace it, and where is the Cruz plan?" Kilmeade pressed.
The senator didn't indicate that he had a specific plan to replace the president's law, but instead repeated some conservative principles: allow insurance to be sold across state lines, health savings accounts, and decoupling health insurance from employment.
"That's what Americans want," he concluded.
