Day 146: Trump admits House health care bill is awful

Trump sees the writing on the wall for a bill polling in the teens.

Donald Trump told Senate Republicans that the House’s “repeal and replace” bill — the American Health Care Act — was “mean,” and “cold-hearted,” and they should try and make their version a bit more palatable.

You may recall the Rose Garden kegger that Trump threw for House Republicans to celebrate AHCA eking its way through a House vote.

At the time, flanked by dozens of House Republicans, Trump called the bill that would strip insurance from 23 million Americans a “very, very incredibly well-crafted” plan that “we want to brag about” to the nation.

Now, after seeing AHCA’s approval rating hovering in the teens, Trump understands that he doesn’t want to have to sign something that he will take the large brunt of the blame for. The war to get rid of Obamacare is very much on and seeing a potential conclusion on the horizon, Trump is desperate to hold on to an already fading support base. Even he understands that many of his most ardent backers will turn on him if it costs them or their family access to affordable health care.

Trump’s position underscores an important point: outcry matters, rallies matter, resistance matters. Despite his public proclamations of success, Trump is clearly privately concerned.

146 days in, 1316 to go

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