“I should have been much more clear,” Pawlenty told Sean Hannity. “I don’t think we can have a nominee that was involved in the development and construction of Obamacare and continues to defend it.”

Pawlenty said Romney had “really laid the groundwork for Obamacare” with his Massachusetts health-care program.

“I don’t think you can prosecute the political case against President Obama if you’re a co-conspirator of the one main charges against the president on a political level,” he added.