Trump now blames conservative Republicans for healthcare failure

If the House Freedom Caucus had been a thorn in the side of leaders under President Barack Obama, they proved Friday that they wouldn’t yield just because they finally have a Republican president.

As he ponders his next steps, Trump faces decisions on whether to back administrative changes to fix Obama’s health care law or undermine it as prices for insurance plans rise in many markets. The novice campaigner used the sheer force of his celebrity and personality to draw loyal supporters and frequently bend the Republican Party to his whims.

“This is who he is”.

President Donald Trump is attacking conservative lawmakers after the failure of the Republican bill to replace Obamacare.

His book, “The Art of the Deal”, brags: “Deals are my art form”. “Trump is a salesperson and he oversold what he can get done”.

As the fallout from Republicans’ inability to make good on a major campaign promise continues, the White House and GOP leaders are increasingly vocal about their frustrations with the House Freedom Caucus.

Trump pinned the blame on Democrats.

Despite half a dozen concessions the White House and GOP House leaders offered to the caucus on health care, its leaders held out support – enough that, when combined with opposition from moderate Republicans, it killed the bill before it could even come to a vote.

Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who ran strongly for the Democratic presidential nomination on a platform of universal healthcare coverage, was predictably scathing of Republican efforts at reform. It seemed that Trump and Bannon had to come at this a different way.

Trump was once a Democrat.

“If they actually took this down, they might feel like they flexed their muscles, but I feel like they’ve ostracized themselves like they haven’t ever done before”, the aide said.

The House kicked off debate early Friday on the GOP plan to replace and repeal the Affordable Care Act. Rather than consult with HFC members, he assumed that he could leverage Trump’s popularity in their districts to beat them into submission.

“I think the Freedom Caucus made a mistake in the end”, the official said.

The White House remained upbeat before the vote was delayed, press secretary Sean Spicer said. “He pulled out every stop, he has called every member, he has tweeted every tweet, he has done every single thing he can”.

Instead of the Freedom Caucus being blamed as the spoiler of Friday’s pre-empted vote, it should be recognized as the conservative conscience of the GOP, emmisaries of the Tea Party movement that was the original populist revolt against President Obama, a movement Trump built on in his unlikely voyage to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (and, arguably, without which he could not have gotten there). “The president thanked the group for their willingness to work closely with the White House and their colleagues in Congress to craft the strongest possible bill”. Trump also spent Saturday at his Virginia club.

“He doesn’t blame Paul Ryan”, Priebus said. “The president feels burned”. So I’m disappointed. I’m a little surprised, I could tell you. “But it will be more complicated now”.

Trump expressed his disappointment with the group, but referred to them as “friends” after the vote was pulled Friday.

Trump’s senior adviser, Steve Bannon, is a former publisher of the hard-right website Breitbart, which has been harshly critical of Ryan.