Donald Trump has suffered a big setback on his first major legislative move since becoming US president, and his opponents are enjoying every moment of it.
The president failed in an attempt to repeal predecessor Barack Obama’s ‘Obamacare’ healthcare system, after his Trump’s own party refused to support his new legislation.
Republican leaders were forced to pull the legislation that Trump had promised would improve the healthcare system, after they couldn’t get enough votes to support it in a Republican-controlled Congress. The party has spent much of the past seven years since Obamacare was introduced vowing to repeal it at the first opportunity.
Amid the attempts to get consensus on a bill that most Republican members would agree support, Trump had issued the people opposing his terms with an ultimatum – that’d he’d take it to a vote no matter what, Reuters reported. But House Speaker Paul Ryan later recommended the bill be pulled rather than taking it to a vote, and Trump agreed, the news agency said.
Online critics didn’t take long to make jokes about the apparent failure of Trump’s much-vaunted dealmaking skills. During the presidential election campaign, Trump, who published a book called The Art of the Deal, had frequently touted his ability to get agreements done in the toughest circumstances.
the art of the deal: pic.twitter.com/g62GnKxnVD
— jordan (@JordanUhl) March 24, 2017
Smearing is easy young man, governing is harder!! #Obamacare #Trumpcare #killthebill #hamiltonmusical #artofthedeal @POTUS @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/vYjYxxk9vH
— #BLM (@WroteMyWay0ut) March 24, 2017
RIP Trumpcare. #Obamacare pic.twitter.com/nDWddLgL49
— Joshua 🌙 (@Joshua__Nash) March 24, 2017
The Art of the DEAL WITH IT!✊#TrumpsBrokenPromises #Trumpcare #TrumpcareIsWorseThan #TrumpDontCare #HealthCareReform #trumpregrets #WAKEUP pic.twitter.com/hcBzVdYguU
— Mr.Randy.Man 🏳️🌈🇺🇸 (@RRN3) March 24, 2017
Although Republicans control the Senate, Trump himself blamed the Democrats for the decision not to take the bill to a vote, telling reporters that “we learned a lot about loyalty, we learned a lot about the vote-getting process”, Reuters reported. Speaker Ryan said he wouldn’t sugarcoat the defeat, calling it a “disappointing day for us” as Republicans experienced what he called “growing pains” in the move from being an opposition to a governing party.
Trump had appeared optimistic about the bill prior to the vote.
After seven horrible years of ObamaCare (skyrocketing premiums & deductibles, bad healthcare), this is finally your chance for a great plan!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2017
But, usually a prolific user of Twitter, Trump has not tweeted since the deal’s failure, although he has posted on Facebook about other issues, including a Greek Independence Day celebration.