Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) warned Tuesday that if Republicans block immigration reform they’ll lose the presidency in 2016 no matter who they nominate.
“I agree with Mr. [Tom] Donohue, the head of the Chamber of Commerce. It doesn’t matter who we nominate. We’ll [lose],” the party’s 2008 presidential nominee told a few reporters in the Capitol, in response to a question from TPM.
Donohue told a crowd last month that “if the Republicans don’t do it they shouldn’t bother to run a candidate in 2016. I mean, think about that. Think about who the voters are.”
McCain, despite co-authoring the immigration reform bill in the 2006-2007 push, lost two-thirds of Hispanic voters to Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential contest. After turning sharply against reform ahead of his 2010 reelection bid, he went on to become a leading author of the sweeping immigration legislation that passed the Senate in June 2013. House Republicans have vowed not to bring it up.