Trump Continues To Point Fingers In Wake Of GOP Healthcare Disaster

President Promotes Fox News Show Calling For Speaker Paul Ryan To Resign

After the GOP’s plan to repeal and replace Obamacare died on Friday, President Donald Trump blamed Democrats in Congress, saying they had not been “civilized.”  

Then, on Saturday, the New York Times reported that Trump was also blaming both both his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price for the demise of the American Health Care Act, otherwise known as Trumpcare. POLITICO’s Tara Pameri even reported that Trump was considering replacing Priebus: 

Trump also reportedly was miffed that his son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner, took a family ski trip to Aspen rather than staying in Washington during the pivotal week for the healthcare bill. 

Finally, as he headed to his Virginia golf course on Saturday morning, Trump took to Twitter to urge his followers to watch “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” a Fox News show: 

We learned why on Saturday night when host Jeanine Pirro began the show by calling on Speaker Paul Ryan to resign, blaming him for the healthcare debacle (video above).  

“Folks, I want to be clear. This is not on President Trump,” Pirro said. “No one expected a businessman to completely understand the nuances, the complicated ins and outs of Washington and its legislative process. How would he know on what individuals he could rely? Ryan has hurt you going forward, and he’s got to go.” 

On Friday, when he blamed Democrats, Trump praised Ryan for working “very, very hard” on the healthcare bill. Pirro claimed she hadn’t discussed her plan to call for Ryan’s resignation with the president, despite his tweet. 

In any case, as the Atlantic‘s David Graham noted last week, it’s clear that in the Trump administration, the buck never stops in the Oval Office. 

“Assuming the public accepts it, this choice has both upsides and downsides,” Graham wrote. “On the one hand, it means that Trump is never to blame for anything. On the other, if he’s so irrelevant, why should anyone pay attention to him or take his proposals and ideas seriously?” 

UPDATE: On Sunday morning, Trump also blamed the Freedom Caucus, the Heritage Foundation and Club for Growth: