Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said on CNBC Thursday that Republicans and Democrats should work together to "fix" Obamacare.
"Let's start working with Democrats. Let's transition to a system that will actually work, that, you know, Democrats are talking about. They want to fix it. Well, let's fix it for the benefit of the American public," Johnson said.
The senator went on to criticize the GOP motto "repeal and replace," saying the process isn't as simple as it's made to sound.
"From my standpoint, I've been talking about repairing the damage and then transitioning to a system that actually works," Johnson said. "That takes some time. It's way more complex than simply repeal and replace. That's a fun little buzzword, but it's just not accurate."
Johnson's colleague, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, made similar comments in early January, when he criticized his party for attempting to repeal Obamacare without setting up a replacement plan.
"I don't think we can just repeal Obamacare and say we're going to get the answer two years from now," Cotton said on MSNBC. "We haven't coalesced around a solution for six years in part because it is so complicated. Kicking the can down the road for a year or two years is not going to make it any easier to solve."
Johnson added that Republicans are beginning to agree with him.
"I think more and more people are, as they're starting to take a look at the daunting task of how do you start repairing the damage of Obamacare, realizing it's not particularly easy," he said, adding that the GOP must exercise caution.
"Repeal and replace was appropriate prior to Obamacare's implementation," he said.
"I mean, then you could have repealed it, you could have put something in place, nobody would have been harmed," he continued. "You didn't have, already, the tentacles of Obamacare."
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