Republicans brush off Trump calling health bill 'mean'
House Republicans are publicly brushing off comments from President Trump about the House's healthcare bill being "mean."
Several lawmakers said they do not regret voting for the legislation and questioned whether Trump even made such a remark.
That comment, first reported by the Associated Press and confirmed by The Hill, came Tuesday during a private meeting between Trump and Republican senators. Trump also said during the meeting that he wanted the Senate’s version of the bill to be more generous.
The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the private meeting.
Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), a key proponent of the ObamaCare repeal bill from the moderate wing of the House Republican conference, questioned the accuracy of the news reports.
“I still haven’t seen the source, so I'm not going to comment on somebody, two unnamed sources who've said two different things,” MacArthur said. “I was with the president on Sunday [at a fundraiser] and he thanked me for my work on the healthcare bill, so I don’t know what these other people are saying he said or what the context was, I just don’t know.”
Rep. John Faso (R-N.Y), who hails from a swing district Democrats are targeting in the 2018 election, sounded a similar note.
“Those are unconfirmed reports so until someone puts their name behind that statement, I don't give it a lot of credibility,” he said.
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/338025-republicans-brush-off-trump-calling-health-bill-mean?rnd=1497559703
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