Politics

Meadows Says He’s More Concerned With Bringing Premiums Down Than Potential Primary

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Juliegrace Brufke Capitol Hill Reporter
Font Size:

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows said he’s more concerned with fighting to get an Obamacare repeal bill he believes will bring down premiums than retaining his House seat.

Meadows, who has repeatedly blasted a number of provisions in the leadership-backed legislation, was singled out by President Donald Trump during the House GOP’s conference meeting Tuesday morning. According to a source inside the meeting, the president cautioned members they could have a hard time retaining their seats if they opt to vote against the measure.

“I ask for your support. You can blame me if you want. Mark did you hear that? You can blame me. Oh Mark, I’m gonna come after you.” Trump reportedly said half in jest, asking the North Carolina representative to stand. “I hope Mark will be with us in the end.”

Meadows said his constituents are his first priority, and despite Trump’s pleas, he can’t support legislation he doesn’t doesn’t believe best serves his district.

“I serve at the will of 750,000 people in western North Carolina, and my primary job more than anything else is to serve them,” Meadows told reporters. “I believe that I’m representing them in opposing this bill because it won’t lower premiums, and until it does, I’m going to be a no even if it sends me home.”

Meadows, who was an early supporter of Trump during the campaign, said “only the president” can confirm whether he was joking, but assured they work well together.

“You know the president and I have a good relationship —  I’m not going to take anything that he says any more meaningful than him truly acknowledging our sincere and deep friendship, and yet at the same time this is not a personality decision it’s a policy decision,he said.

The North Carolina Republican said he is concerned how failing to repeal Obamacare could reflect on the administration.

“Am I worried about that? The answer is yes,” he said. “Do I believe that we can find a way to get to yes if the president win, give moderates a win, give the Freedom Caucus and RSC a win? I believe we can if everyone will negotiate.

The HFC is pushing for language to be added to the legislation, which would eliminate essential health benefits and a number of the mandates — concerns they share with moderate critics of the bill.

“We have wanted to be at yes probably more than the Tuesday Group for the last three weeks,” he said. “We have articulated very clearly a number of things that we wanted, we backed away from most of those — it really comes down to if anyone can credibly show me how this is going to lower health care premiums in a significant way then I’m willing to change my position.”

Meadows said he believes that, if leadership is willing to confirm changes will be made, they could get enough “yeses” for Thursday’s vote.

“We still have 48 hours,” he told reporters.

Follow Juliegrace Brufke on Twitter

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel