Washington, Jun 25 (EFE).- President Donald Trump on Sunday called Democratic lawmakers “obstructionist” for opposing the healthcare plan being pushed by Senate Republicans and designed to dismantle the health reform of former President Barack Obama, popularly known as ObamaCare.
In an interview with the Sunday morning Fox News television show “Fox and Friends,” Trump said that the “hostility” between the two main political parties has gotten to the point where Democrats have decided to “obstruct” any issue on his legislative agenda.
“We won’t get one Democrat vote. Not one. And if it were the greatest bill ever proposed in mankind, we wouldn’t get a vote. And that’s a terrible thing,” the president added.
The president once again lambasted congressional Democrats, who have announced that they will vote in a bloc against the healthcare proposal unveiled last week by Senate Republicans after weeks of secret meetings involving 13 GOP senators and headed by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
In the interview, Trump criticized the Democratic slogan to “resist” Republican legislative efforts, which has become the rallying cry for some Democrats in confronting his administration’s proposals.
In discussing the “level of hostility” that currently prevails in both houses of Congress, Trump said that the Democrats’ guiding principle is “resist, it’s obstructionist.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had criticized the healthcare plan two weeks ago when its content was still secret because deliberations to draft the text had been held behind closed doors without any Democratic input.
“I saw Senator Schumer criticizing the bill a couple weeks ago and he had no idea what was in the bill,” said Trump in his Fox interview.
The GOP healthcare package accords the states greater flexibility to stop offering certain health coverage that is guaranteed under ObamaCare, including maternity and mental health treatment, and it cuts programs for the poor, although it maintains a system of certain subsidies to help lower-income people buy insurance.
The GOP Senate leadership wants to bring the bill to a vote this week, but the opposition of five Republican senators at this stage raises serious doubts about whether they can muster enough votes to pass it.