--- title: Donald Trump: John McCain 'Let Arizona Down' on Health Bill description: President Donald Trump was not happy about Sen. John McCain's announcement that he would vote against the newly proposed healthcare act canonical: https://time.com/4954614/donald-trump-john-mccain-health-bill/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-23T13:37:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:34:05.275Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump: McCain 'Let Arizona Down' With Healthcare Decision og:description: "John McCain never had any intention of voting for this Bill og:url: https://time.com/4954614/donald-trump-john-mccain-health-bill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt669a71b6af9b7773/6988df21fb4eac3c13893d92/gettyimages-694126714.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3240 og:image:height: 1823 og:image:alt: Former FBI Director James Comey Testifies on Capitol Hill og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump: McCain 'Let Arizona Down' With Healthcare Decision twitter:description: "John McCain never had any intention of voting for this Bill twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt669a71b6af9b7773/6988df21fb4eac3c13893d92/gettyimages-694126714.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump: John McCain ‘Let Arizona Down’ With Health Bill Decision > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Sep 23, 2017 1:37 PM UTC  Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), listened as former FBI Director James Comey testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on his past relationship with President Donald Trump, and his role in the Russian interference investigation, in the Senate Hart building on Capitol Hill, on Thursday, June 8, 2017. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), listened as former FBI Director James Comey testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on his past relationship with President Donald Trump, and his role in the Russian interference investigation, in the Senate Hart building on Capitol Hill, on Thursday, June 8, 2017. Photograph by Cheriss May—NurPhoto/Getty by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Sep 23, 2017 1:37 PM UTC President Donald Trump was not happy about Sen. John McCain’s announcement that [he would vote against the newly proposed healthcare act](http://time.com/4953920/health-care-john-mccain-graham-cassidy-vote/), which would have replaced the Affordable Care Act. “John McCain never had any intention of voting for this Bill, which his Governor loves. He campaigned on Repeal & Replace. Let Arizona down!” Trump tweeted Saturday. McCain said in a statement Friday that he could not “in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal.” The bill was also criticized for failing to ensure all people with preexisting conditions would not face higher premiums and for cuts to Medicaid. Trump also said that “McCain let his best friend L.G. down!” referring to the [Arizona senator’s friendship with Sen. Lindsey Graham](http://time.com/3828291/lindsey-graham-john-mccain-joe-lieberman-president/), who co-authored the bill. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/911541328013676544) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/911545480651378689) However, [Graham seems to be handling the situation well](http://time.com/4954193/lindsey-graham-john-mccain-still-friends-healthcare/). Despite saying he respectfully disagrees with McCain on the matter, Graham tweeted Friday, “My friendship with @SenJohnMcCain is not based on how he votes but respect for how he’s lived his life and the person he is.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4954614/donald-trump-john-mccain-health-bill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4954614/donald-trump-john-mccain-health-bill/"},"headline":"Donald Trump: John McCain ‘Let Arizona Down’ With Health Bill Decision","datePublished":"2017-09-23T13:37:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:34:05.275Z","description":"Trump said McCain let both Arizona and his best friend Lindsey Graham down","url":"https://time.com/4954614/donald-trump-john-mccain-health-bill/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt669a71b6af9b7773/6988df21fb4eac3c13893d92/gettyimages-694126714.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt669a71b6af9b7773/6988df21fb4eac3c13893d92/gettyimages-694126714.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Former FBI Director James Comey Testifies on Capitol Hill","caption":"Former FBI Director James Comey Testifies on Capitol Hill","creditText":"Photograph by Cheriss May—NurPhoto/Getty","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4954614/donald-trump-john-mccain-health-bill/","name":"Donald Trump: John McCain ‘Let Arizona Down’ With Health Bill Decision"}}]}] ```