A handful of Trump supporters are publicly lamenting Obamacare repeal falling flat, but it’s not President Donald Trump they’re mad at.
Republicans first attempt to “repeal and replace” Obamacare met a dramatic end Friday afternoon, when Trump and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan announced the bill would not go up for a vote, solidifying Obamacare, once again, as the law of the land.
The announcement marked a decisive end to a contentious, but otherwise action packed week on Capitol Hill, which tested both the new administration’s and Republican leadership’s ability to drive major legislation through Congress and court wayward members.
Trump voters are blaming conservatives, moderates, and Democrats for Friday’s failure. The president is alone in that he is the only one escaping the blame, Reuters reports. “I blame the Democrats and Republicans in Congress. They are a bunch of bastards. I’m just fed up,” 82-year-old Jeanette Madison told reporters.
His supporters believe that the bill was a disappointment, but that it was not entirely his fault, as the man is not a typical Washington politician. “I think it’s partially his fault,” 21-year-old Joel Martin said. “I don’t think he has enough personal knowledge to do what he needs to do to get a healthcare bill through Congress.”
Twitter users came out defending Trump (to varying degrees) after Friday’s announcement.
With internal divisions of the Republican Party, “getting healthcare right,” on the first pass was basically impossible. Trump knew that.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) March 25, 2017
Ryan is weakened, we move onto popular tax reform and health care reform moves closer to 2018 where Trump has more leverage to get 60 votes.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) March 25, 2017
Trump will never be a healthcare expert, but the people he tried to outsource healthcare to were also non-experts, which led to disaster.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) March 25, 2017
Trump spent 3 wks lobbying for healthcare. Obama spent 18 months lobbying for ACA
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) March 25, 2017
The president is now reportedly focused on pushing tax and regulatory reform and letting the Obamacare system continue to unravel. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, appeared on Fox News to discuss the mood of the president and the administration after the American Health Care Act was pulled just before the scheduled vote Friday afternoon. (RELATED: Spicer: Trump Is ‘Disappointed’ But Ready ‘Move On’)
The press secretary believes the president is “disappointed,” but not shaken by the defeat. “He’s realistic. He knew it would be tough,” Spicer said. “He has an ambitious plan ahead. He has a desire to do fundamental tax reform, something we haven’t seen since 1986. The agenda moves on,” Spicer said.
Spicer believes the Obamacare system, as it continues to unravel, will cause GOP lawmakers with cold feet and Democratic dissenters to change their tunes on health care reform. “His view on healthcare is that this will collapse. Democrats will crawl back once the system fails on its own,” Spicer said. “The people that stood with Nancy Pelosi today understand the system is going down and the higher costs are on their shoulders not ours.”
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