Washington, March 25 (QNA) – US President Donald Trump has blamed Democrats for the failure of his healthcare bill which was withdrawn on Friday because it did not have enough support to pass in Congress.
Speaking to the Washington Post, Trump said “We couldn’t get one Democratic vote, and we were a little bit shy, very little, but it was still a little bit shy, so we pulled it”.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said he and President Trump agreed to withdraw the vote, after it became apparent it would not get the minimum of 215 Republican votes needed.
The vote on the American Health Care Act, originally scheduled Thursday but then pushed to Friday after failing to gain conservative support, was canceled after it appeared that Republicans had failed to get enough support from within their own party for it to pass.
Republicans currently have a majority in both the House and the Senate, however, multiple reports suggested that between 28 and 35 Republicans were also opposed to President Trump’s draft American Health Care Act. The bill also appeared unpopular with the public – in one recent poll, just 17% approved of it.
Speaking after the withdrawal, Trump repeatedly said Obamacare would “explode”. “We have to let Obamacare go its own way for a little while,” he told reporters at the Oval Office, adding that if the Democrats were “civilized and came together” the two parties could work out a “great healthcare bill”. (QNA)
