President Donald Trump on Monday night appeared to joke about firing Health and Human Service Secretary Tom Price if he does not corral enough votes to get an Obamacare repeal bill through the Senate tomorrow.
“By the way, you’re going to get the votes?” Trump said to Price, who stood beside him onstage at a national Boy Scout event in West Virginia.
“He better get ’em. He better get ’em. Oh, he better,” Trump said, turning back to the crowd. “Otherwise I’ll say, Tom, you’re fired. I’ll get somebody.”
He turned to Price, smiling, then continued.
“He better get Senator Capito to vote for it,” Trump said, referring to Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). “You’ve got to get the other senators to vote for it. It’s time.”
In a later aside, Trump added: “We could use some more loyalty, I will tell you that.”
It was not clear what or who he was referring to.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One earlier Monday evening, Price praised Trump’s “unprecedented” involvement with negotiations and said the White House is optimistic about the chances of whatever proposal goes to the Senate floor.
“This is the greatest amount of involvement by any president that I have ever witnessed with members of Congress one on one,” he said. “We look forward to having at least 50 votes in the Senate tomorrow.”
