In the face of abject failure that is no one's fault but the Republican Party, the White House press secretary is all about building bridges? "I think the Speaker has done everything he can, he's worked really closely with the president."
But wait! Trump surrogates like Rep. Louis Gohmert are trying to shield Trump from criticism and have blamed Ryan on air for his handing the healthcare bill.
Fox News' Charles Payne laid the blame of this failure at the feet of Ryan and said, "I really wish Paul Ryan wasn't in charge of it from the very beginning - that is where they blew it."
A reporter asked, "In general, was the White House happy with how Paul Ryan handled this?"
Trump is apparently, for the moment, standing up for Ryan. Spicer added, "I said this yesterday, you can't force people to vote, but I think we've given them every single reason to fulfill every pledge that they've made, and I think this is the right thing to do."
Spicer saying 'you can't force people to vote,' undermines Trump's claims that he's THE master negotiator and deal maker.
He reiterated that today's vote was 'It."
As the presser continued, Spicer added some details of their efforts to pass the AHCA, "We've listened, we've incorporated, we've updated in every way possible."
He continued to praise Trump and Ryan's efforts and said, "I don't think when you look at legislative efforts, I think the president has given it his all, and I think it shocked a lot of people, frankly, how very, very detail oriented, how personal it was for him, calling members, you know, as early as 6:00 in the morning and going until 11:00 at night, the last several nights, sitting down, meeting after meeting with them, coming back and revising it, having his team back and forth."
Spicer, "Everything is out there and each of these member needs to make that decision whether or not they believe this they've -- everything that we can possibly do to listen to members to get their concerns in this piece of legislation, and make it as strong as possible for the American people has been done."
If only they could blame the Democrats.
Hey, it's never "too soon" for Donald Trump!
