Hannity: Defund Obamacare and let Democrats shut down the government

Speaking to Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) on his radio show Tuesday, Republican opinion host Sean Hannity urged the tea party favorite to stand with fellow Republicans and force a government shutdown later this year by refusing to vote for any spending bill that includes money to implement the Affordable Care Act.

"How many members of the House and Senate ran on repealing Obamacare?" Hannity asked Lee. "Now they can vote symbolically or they can take this stand, is what you're telling them to do. I'm supporting you. I think they ought to just put their foot down, stand on principal and stop calculating what political impact is going to be felt here. Fund the rest of the government, but just defund Obamacare. And then if the Democrats want to shut down the government, then let them shut it down."

Lee told the hosts of "Fox & Friends" on Monday that he and a handful of fellow tea party enthusiasts in Congress are preparing to pull out all the stops to shut down the health reform law before it is fully implemented in 2014, all but admitting defeat on the House Republicans' effort to repeal the law with legislation of their own.

Hearing Hannity's support, Lee seemed grateful. "Thank you, Sean," he said. "And bless you for saying that. We need more Americans, more of your listeners, to join me in this cause, join me in this noble effort. Once members of Congress in both houses and even in both political parties hear from their constituents in record numbers that they don't want us to fund Obamacare, and that they know we hold the keys to turning off Obamacare before it's too late, they're gonna demand that we do this. They're gonna demand that we not fund it. They're gonna demand that we refuse to vote for any continuing resolution that contains Obamacare funds."

This audio is from "The Sean Hannity Show," aired Tuesday, July 23, 2013, as snipped by Media Matters.