President Donald Trump has found a target to blame for the failure of his first legislative initiative as president: Democrats.
The larger impact of the failed American Health Care Act has yet to be seen, but it has been generally agreed that it was not the best showing by a man who prides himself with being the closer of deals.
His book, “The Art of the Deal”, brags: “Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks.”
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But according to Trump, there were no issues with his dealmaking. Democrats, he explained, were to blame because they refused to provide him with any of their votes.
“We had no Democrat support. We had no votes from the Democrats,” he said. “With no Democrats on board, we couldn’t quite get there.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan yanked the bill Friday after his party’s moderate and conservative lawmakers could not be persuaded to vote for its passing.
But Democrats had always been unified against it from the start. And Trump never once tried to use his persuasive deal-making skills on Democratic leaders. Many, even the more agreeable members of the party, confirmed they never received a call from the administration.
Trump later told reporters that he expected the opposition party to support any healthcare reform because the collapse of Obamacare would be on their heads.
“The losers are Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer because now they own Obamacare,” he said. “This is not our bill. This is their bill.”