Donald Trump plays golf with Rand Paul as Mike Pence keeps promising "the end of Obamacare"

The vice president is putting on an optimistic face about the future of the Obamacare repeal movement

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published April 3, 2017 4:38PM (EDT)

 (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump's attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare may have collapsed in embarrassing failure last month, but Vice President Mike Pence is putting on an optimistic face about the future of the administration's anti-Obamacare efforts.

During a speech in Reynoldsburg, Ohio on Saturday afternoon, Pence told the assembled listeners that "it ain't over yet. Even as we speak, I'm told the members of Congress are forging ahead — working to craft legislation that will usher in the end of Obamacare."

He added: "The president and I have faith — we have faith that Congress will stand up and do the right thing. When Congress finally decides to repeal and replace Obamacare, President Trump and I will be ready to work with them hand in glove."

President Trump himself spent much of the weekend trying to restore faith in Republicans' ability to repeal and replace Obamacare. He was spotted at a Trump National Golf Course outside of Washington with Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — one of the most outspoken Senate critics of the initial repeal and replace bill, at least coming from Trump's own right — in which he, the libertarian-ish legislator, and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney were all spotted playing golf. Although Trump once boasted that he was so much better at golf than Paul that "I could play him a thousand times and never lose to him," he kept his braggadocio to himself in what was likely an effort to woo Paul behind a new Trumpcare bill.

And of course, Trump took to Twitter during the weekend to puff up the new health care efforts.

 

 


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

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American Health Care Act Donald Trump Mike Pence Obamacare Obamacare Repeal Rand Paul