Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) got defensive and raised his voice on Tuesday after MSNBC reporter Garrett Haake asked him how he and Democrats would "exploit" Republican senators delaying their health care bill vote minutes before the interview.
Sanders, who caucuses with Senate Democrats, pushed back against Haake's assertion that they would be exploiting the delayed vote.
"It's not a question of exploiting," Sanders said. "What we do is what we continue to do. This bill, this disastrous bill, has the support of 16 percent of the American people. Very few people. I would wager with you that there's not one state in the country where people think we should throw people off of health insurance to give tax breaks to billionaires."
Sanders continued by claiming that 60 percent of the American people do not know what is in the Senate health care bill and that the Democrats will use the next week-and-a-half to tell people what's in the bill.
Sanders has been a staunch critic of both the House and Senate versions of the Republican health care bill. Sanders is instead a vocal advocate for a single-payer health care system.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) announced early Tuesday afternoon that he would be delaying the health care vote, which was originally scheduled for this upcoming Thursday, until after the July 4 recess, according to CNN.
McConnell told GOP senators that he wants to make changes to the bill, get a new Congressional Budget Office score and have a vote after the holiday, two sources told CNN.
McConnell said that President Donald Trump had invited all Republican senators to the White House on Tuesday afternoon.