Newt Gingrich says Donald Trump shares
the blame for the Obamacare repeal failure
the blame for the Obamacare repeal failure
Yesterday, during an interview on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends,” former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said that
President Donald Trump shares some of the blame for the Obamacare repeal failure.
Gingrich is quoted as saying, “I think the president can’t disassociate himself from this. He’s a part of the leadership team. He’s not an observer sitting up in the stands. He’s on the field. It was a collective failure.”
Newt Gingrich’s comment is a response to Donald Trump’s tweets in which the president blames Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for Congress’ failure to repeal Obamacare.
Trump tweeted, “Can you believe that Mitch McConnell, who has screamed Repeal and Replace for 7 years, couldn’t get it done. Must Repeal and Replace ObamaCare!”
Not too long after sending this tweet, Trump apparently decided that giving McConnell a little encouragement may be a better tactic in getting the Senate Majority Leader to give repealing Obamacare another try.
So, Trump tweeted, “Mitch, get back to work and put Repeal and Replace, Tax Reform and Cuts and a great Infrastructure Bill on my desk for signing. You can do it!”
McConnell, however, knows this is easier said than done. It is why he told some folks attending an event at the Rotary Group in Kentucky that Trump’s lack of understanding about how the legislative process works has resulted in Trump setting unrealistic goals and expectations.
And for McConnell, the failure to repeal Obamacare is an example of Trump not understanding the complexities of the legislative process and why the Republicans 52-48 majority in the Senate is not failure proof.
This means that it only takes three Republicans to vote with the Democrats and two Independents in order to result in a bill’s failure; which is what occurred with the failure of the Obamacare repeal.
Gingrich made this point when he noted the ratio of Democrats to Republicans who voted no to repeal Obamacare.
The former Speaker of the House said, “But to get involve in shooting at each other when there were 16 Democrats voting no for every single Republican who voted no, it’s goofy.”
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) agrees with the former speaker of the House. Yesterday, during an interview on CNN Newsroom, Congressman Zeldin told host Poppy Harlow that the Republican led Senate doesn’t have the votes to repeal Obamacare.
Zeldin said to Harlow, “The back ‘n’ forth between the president and the Senate Majority Leader isn’t going to add any additional votes to the Obamacare repeal effort…I just don’t see it over on the Senate side the votes to repeal Obamacare at all.”
Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) took a different view. Like Trump, he blamed Congressional Republicans for not passing a bill into law to replace Obamacare.
Congressman Cole told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, “I really do believe this was a congressional failure. This was not a presidential failure. And Republicans of all stripes need to look in the mirror and recognize that.”
He did go on to say that although he doesn’t blame Trump for the Obamacare repeal failure, Cole does believe the constant fighting needs to stop and that the focus needs to turn to the debt ceiling, the budget, taxes, and the appropriations bill.
Gingrich is quoted as saying, “I think the president can’t disassociate himself from this. He’s a part of the leadership team. He’s not an observer sitting up in the stands. He’s on the field. It was a collective failure.”
Newt Gingrich’s comment is a response to Donald Trump’s tweets in which the president blames Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for Congress’ failure to repeal Obamacare.
Trump tweeted, “Can you believe that Mitch McConnell, who has screamed Repeal and Replace for 7 years, couldn’t get it done. Must Repeal and Replace ObamaCare!”
Not too long after sending this tweet, Trump apparently decided that giving McConnell a little encouragement may be a better tactic in getting the Senate Majority Leader to give repealing Obamacare another try.
So, Trump tweeted, “Mitch, get back to work and put Repeal and Replace, Tax Reform and Cuts and a great Infrastructure Bill on my desk for signing. You can do it!”
McConnell, however, knows this is easier said than done. It is why he told some folks attending an event at the Rotary Group in Kentucky that Trump’s lack of understanding about how the legislative process works has resulted in Trump setting unrealistic goals and expectations.
And for McConnell, the failure to repeal Obamacare is an example of Trump not understanding the complexities of the legislative process and why the Republicans 52-48 majority in the Senate is not failure proof.
This means that it only takes three Republicans to vote with the Democrats and two Independents in order to result in a bill’s failure; which is what occurred with the failure of the Obamacare repeal.
Gingrich made this point when he noted the ratio of Democrats to Republicans who voted no to repeal Obamacare.
The former Speaker of the House said, “But to get involve in shooting at each other when there were 16 Democrats voting no for every single Republican who voted no, it’s goofy.”
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) agrees with the former speaker of the House. Yesterday, during an interview on CNN Newsroom, Congressman Zeldin told host Poppy Harlow that the Republican led Senate doesn’t have the votes to repeal Obamacare.
Zeldin said to Harlow, “The back ‘n’ forth between the president and the Senate Majority Leader isn’t going to add any additional votes to the Obamacare repeal effort…I just don’t see it over on the Senate side the votes to repeal Obamacare at all.”
Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) took a different view. Like Trump, he blamed Congressional Republicans for not passing a bill into law to replace Obamacare.
Congressman Cole told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, “I really do believe this was a congressional failure. This was not a presidential failure. And Republicans of all stripes need to look in the mirror and recognize that.”
He did go on to say that although he doesn’t blame Trump for the Obamacare repeal failure, Cole does believe the constant fighting needs to stop and that the focus needs to turn to the debt ceiling, the budget, taxes, and the appropriations bill.
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