This morning, Donald Trump called together a bunch of GOP representatives in closed session to bully them into supporting Trumpcare when it comes up for a vote on Thursday. He started out on a lighthearted note, threatening the jobs of those who opposed him, saying anybody who voted “No” would be primaried. And just so everybody got the point, then it got personal:
And if the president’s threat of a primary challenge in the 2018 mid-term elections wasn’t enough to nudge defiant Republicans into compliance, Trump turned it up a notch, publicly confronting the bill’s main opposition leader, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., with a bit of presidential intimidation.
After asking Meadows to stand up at the meeting, President Trump said, “I’m counting on you to vote for the bill,” according to Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., who was there. President Trump later told Meadows: “I’m gonna come after you big time,” if the legislation falters.
Of course, the alleged author of The Art of the Deal, we have been told by none other that Trump Himself, is the world’s greatest dealmaker. So what was the result of this all-stick-no-carrot approach?
According to the whip-count on The Hill, today three more GOP lawmakers switched from “Leaning No” to “Firm No.”
Rep. Rod Blum (Iowa) — "I'm a no as the bill stands today," Blum told The Hill on March 21.
Rep. Ted Budd (N.C.) — “As currently written, I cannot support the American Health Care Act,” Budd said in a statement on March 21.
Rep. Leonard Lance (N.J.) — Lance told reporters Tuesday he was a no after a meeting at the White House.
Now that’s leadership.
With 22 needed to kill the bill, the count at The Hill currently stands at 21 firm NO votes among the GOP, and another six leaning/likely No votes . NBC News has 27 votes against it already.