Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) admitted that the reason Republicans have had so much trouble repealing Obamacare is that he and other Republicans did not expect President Donald Trump to win the election in November.
“Look, I didn’t expect Donald Trump to win. I think most of my colleagues didn’t, so we didn’t expect to be in this situation,” Sen. Toomey revealed.
The Pennsylvania senator suggested that, because Republicans did not expect President Donald Trump to win in the November election, they did not plan to truly repeal Obamacare. Republicans have promised to repeal Obamacare for seven years, Republicans gave them that opportunity to repeal Obamacare by giving them majorities in the House and the Senate as well as the White House by electing Donald Trump to become president.
Sen. Toomey, an infamous “Never Trump” politician, refused to endorse the president during the campaign. The Pennsylvania senator plays a significant role in repealing Obamacare as the chairman of the Senate Finance Health Care Subcommittee.
Toomey voted several times for largely symbolic votes in the Senate when Obama still served as president.
The senator explained that it remains difficult for Republicans to agree on how to repeal Obamacare. Toomey said, “Given how difficult it is to get to a consensus, it was hard to force that until there was a need to.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delayed the vote on the Senate healthcare bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), after both conservative and moderate senators opposed the bill.
After delaying the vote, McConnell recently suggested that, if Republicans cannot pass the leadership’s healthcare bill, he will negotiate a deal with Democrats instead.
Republicans have not been unified on how they plan to address health care; many Pennsylvania citizens criticized Sen. Toomey and other GOP members for not adequately preparing to repeal Obamacare.
Toomey said at a town hall this week, “I think that’s a valid criticism.”
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