Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday blamed Democratic lawmakers for the multi-stage failure of Senate Republicans’ partisan effort to repeal Obamacare.
“I would say Democrats,” Sanders said in response to a question about why the Senate proposal failed Monday night.
“But they’re in the minority,” a reporter pointed out. Defections from Republican senators sunk the Senate proposal.
“They’re responsible for passing Obamacare,” Sanders replied.
She claimed Democrats were “unwilling to work with Republicans in any capacity to help fix” Obamacare.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in June said passing a repeal bill would “have to be a Republicans-only exercise.”
Sanders nevertheless claimed that Democrats have “been the ones that have been completely unwilling to even come to the table to be part of the discussion.”
Asked whether Trump is frustrated with Republican lawmakers who control both chambers of Congress and have failed to muster votes to pass a repeal, Sanders said there is “a small number of people that he’s probably frustrated with.”
“I think the thing that’s dead here is Obamacare,” she said. “You’re speaking as if this is over and done and it certainly isn’t.”
