White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed Tuesday that failing to repeal Obamacare would be the fault of Democrats.
A Senate health care reform bill supported by the White House failed to garner sufficient support and now Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing for a full repeal of Obamacare, which three Republican senators have already said they oppose. (RELATED: These 48 Republican Senators Voted For A Clean Obamacare Repeal In 2015)
While Republicans control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives, Sanders said that the failure of the recent repeal bill rests on the Democrats’ shoulders.
“They’re responsible for passing Obamacare. They’re responsible for creating the mess that we’re in. They’re responsible for being unwilling to work with Republicans in any capacity to help fix a system they know is completely flawed and have publicly said so,” Sanders stated at Tuesday’s press briefing.
A reporter at the briefing brought up a previous tweet of Trump’s where he wrote, “Leadership: Whatever happens, you’re responsible. If it doesn’t happen, you’re responsible.”
“So why is the President trying to shunt responsibility over to Democrats? Doesn’t he own any of the blame here?” the reporter asked.
Sanders replied: “The blame of a program that was created and forced through before he took office? No. But the process of reforming health care is certainly not over, and we’re going to continue to focus on reforming the healthcare system and putting one in place that isn’t a failure, like Obamacare.”
The White House’s stated plan Tuesday followed along the lines of Trump’s morning tweet about letting Obamacare “fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan.”
Republicans have been pointing to a lack of insurers in many markets and rising premiums as a sign of Obamacare’s failure.
“I would think that those things alone should wake up Democrats and make them want to come to the table. I would — again, I’m not going to speak for the breaking point of Democrats, but I can’t imagine that as we continue down this road, they don’t come to the table to try to help save healthcare in this country,” Sanders said.