July 21, 2017 10:45 AM UTC

Gardner has yet to answer his own questions about repealing Obamacare

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• by: Jason Salzman

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) is now undecided on whether he’d support GOP legislation to repeal Obamacare without replacing it first, but he thinks the U.S. Senate should vote on an Obamacare measure, even if it’s likely to fail.

“I don’t think I’m going to speculate on [a straight repeal bill], because I don’t know that’s what would come up and I don’t want to say that I’m going to vote for this, that or the other before I see it and before I know what’s in it,” Gardner told The Denver Post’s Mark Matthews.

Gardner, who’s voted multiple times over the years to repeal Obamacare, sounded last week as if he was opposed to the repeal-only approach. During a radio interview, he posed questions about a repeal-only measure that he has yet to answer.

Here are Gardner’s questions that Gardner hasn’t answered:

“I think that if you repeal it now, with nothing in its place, what happens if you don’t find that replacement?” Gardner asked on the radio.

“What happens if you don’t reach that agreement?” Gardner asked on the radio.

Another question is, if you can’t answer these questions, how could you or anyone vote to repeal Obmacare?

I left a message for Gardner asking him to respond to his own questions, but I did not get a response.

Gardner wants the U.S. Senate to vote on Obamacare, one way or the other.

The Post reported:

But [Gardner] echoed other Republican leader in arguing the Senate should vote no matter what, even in the face of likely defeat.

“I don’t see why anybody should be concerned about fighting for legislation that they believe will do better than what we have,” Gardner said. “If you look back at history and you see what (Democrat and former Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid did by trying to protect his members from tough votes and making decision on big issues, it did not work.”

Gardner is scheduled to appear at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver today, an event billed as the largest gathering of conservatives outside of Washington DC.

Protests are planned outside of the event, at 14th and Stout Streets in Denver, beginning at 4 p.m.