After psyching themselves up, the House Republicans passed their health care bill before heading to the White House for a celebratory press conference with President Trump, who delayed his trip to New York for the occasion.
In his speech, Trump spoke about the people he saw during his campaign who “were suffering so badly with the ravages of Obamacare.” Trump promised that premiums and deductibles would go down under the new bill which is a “repeal and replace of Obamacare, make no mistake about it.”
While praising the people who worked on the bill in the House, Trump took the time to congratulate himself for being an inexperienced politician.
Trump: “How am I doing? Am I doing OK? Hey, I’m president! I’m president! Can you believe it?” pic.twitter.com/hjos8ZWL95
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 4, 2017
After saying this event wasn’t some chance to brag, Trump announced that others would be bragging speaking, but first, Trump set about singling out individuals, and groups (“we have so many groups”) for praise.
On Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Trump said that he had heard that he, Trump, was going to dump Paul Ryan, but he, Trump, was now hearing that Paul Ryan was a genius.
“He has worked so hard,” Trump said of the Speaker. Ryan’s “been treated very unfairly, but it no longer matters” because the Republicans “won.” Trump then said he and the Republicans would soon get to work on “the biggest tax cut in history” before handing the podium to Ryan.
Speaker Paul Ryan: “The problems facing American families as a result of Obamacare are just too dire” https://t.co/OOYOpKri34
— CNN (@CNN) May 4, 2017
Congressman Ryan only spoke briefly, but said that their colleagues in the Senate would get to work quickly because “the stakes are too high … the problems facing American families as a result of Obamacare are too dire and too urgent.”
(Via Fox 10 Phoenix, Bradd Jaffy & CNN)