President Donald Trump’s armchair quarterbacking of the Obamacare repeal-and replace-process seem to have hurt more than it helped, but that doesn’t mean he’s giving up.
In a fusillade of Saturday morning tweets, Trump urged the Republican Senate to abolish the filibuster rule and stop “wasting time” on healthcare and other legislative matters.
“Republican Senate must get rid of 60 vote NOW! It is killing the R Party, allows 8 Dems to control country,” Trump wrote in the first of five tweets, telling congressional Republicans that they “look like fools.”
Republican Senate must get rid of 60 vote NOW! It is killing the R Party, allows 8 Dems to control country. 200 Bills sit in Senate. A JOKE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017
The very outdated filibuster rule must go. Budget reconciliation is killing R's in Senate. Mitch M, go to 51 Votes NOW and WIN. IT'S TIME!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017
Republicans in the Senate will NEVER win if they don't go to a 51 vote majority NOW. They look like fools and are just wasting time……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017
The President’s complaints ignore the fact that the GOP-controlled Senate only needs 51 votes to pass a healthcare replacement through reconciliation. They most recently failed to reach that threshold in the early hours of Friday morning, when Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and John McCain (R-AZ) voted against what became known as the “skinny repeal” bill.
Trump’s arguments also elide the fact that he claimed, after the latest legislative failure, that he “said from the beginning” that the GOP should simply let Obamacare “implode.” Since taking office, the President has toggled between arguing that the Senate must take urgent action and insisting that Obamacare should be allowed to fail, forcing Democrats to work on a replacement.
Congressional Republicans appear exasperated with his aggressive tactics and failure to market their replacement to American voters.
Murkowski was unswayed by Trump’s personal attacks against her this week, while those attacks, and his impromptu decision to ban transgender people from the military, reportedly incensed McCain, who ultimately cast the deciding vote on so-called “skinny repeal.”
“It’s time to move on” from healthcare, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced after this week’s defeat.
This is exhibit A for why there is a filibuster in the first place. I bet he will be singing a different tune if/when the Democrats retake the Senate in 18.
PINO.
And now even your own party gets it.
Happy tweeting!
What good does killing the filibuster do when YOU CAN’T GET TO 51???
Donny ‘can’t do basic math’ Trump.
He’s a loon.
It’s amazing how open and visible his profound stupidity is when he talks about the mechanics of government. He’s like that guy who had a hole in his stomach. P.S. Bravo Allegra for saying he “toggles” between contradictory views. Really captures the mindless ease with which he drops one passionately held belief for another, then drops that and picks up the first one again and so on as circumstances dictate.