Jim DeMint: Conservatives not backing down on ObamaCare opposition

Conservatives across the country are not backing down in their opposition to ObamaCare, Heritage Foundation president and former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint told Bret Baier Friday on “Special Report with Bret Baier.”

“It’s the beginning of the battle,” said the former Republican senator. “We won the debate with the American people, and that’s really where the whole thing starts. Eventually the politics will follow the people.”

Asked about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s remarks that efforts to defund ObamaCare during the debt discussion were “not a smart play,” DeMint came to the defense of those who tried to stop the president’s health care initiative.

“Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and other who led the effort to stop the funding of this bill are heroes,” DeMint said. “What they understood is that the only way to get the president to even address the issue, to get the country to talk about it, was for the House not to fund it.”

DeMint added that if Republicans stick to their principles, they can overcome any divisions within the party.

“There’s no question in this debate that ObamaCare is wrong for this country and that we should do everything we can to stop it,” he said. “Frankly, I’d like to see more people in Washington, in both parties, listen to the American people and do what’s right for them and forget the politics.”