Democrats gloat after 'Trumpcare' fails: 'So much for "The Art of the Deal"

pulse

March 24, 2017 9:01 PM

Democrats took a victory lap Friday after Trump requested that Ryan pull the Republican bill to replace the Affordable Care Act.

Nancy Pelosi.

The GOP-backed bill, the American Health Care Act, did not have enough Republican votes to pass the House. An agreement could not be met between Trump and House leadership, and moderate and more conservative representatives on what the bill should contain.

In a statement shortly after the bill was pulled, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, "So much for the 'Art of the Deal,' poking fun at Trump's 1988 book.

"Ultimately, the Trumpcare bill failed because of two traits that have plagued the Trump presidency since he took office: incompetence and broken promises," Schumer said. "In my life, I have never seen an administration as incompetent as the one occupying the White House today."

"They can’t write policy that actually makes sense, they can’t implement the policies they do manage to write, they can’t get their stories straight, and today we’ve learned that they can’t close a deal, and they can’t count votes," the New York senator continued, adding, "I also have seen a president break as many promises to working people as this president has done in just over two months."

Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez summed it his reaction in an acronym.

"This was a rejection of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act," Perez said in a statement. "In the words of my friend Joe Biden: This is a BFD.”

Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey offered some snark on Twitter shortly after news of the failure broke.

And as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a press conference, the bill failing is "a victory for the American people."

Speaking from the White House Friday, Trump blamed Democrats for not helping pass the bill, even though Republicans held majorities in both branches of Congress, adding that Obamacare will "explode" and it will be Democrats fault.

"We had no Democrat support," Trump said, later adding, "A lot of people don't realize how good our bill was."

Trump said the real "losers" were Schumer and Pelosi.

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