McAuliffe: Trump has ‘abdicated his responsibility as president’

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) ripped President Trump on Tuesday for his comments on ObamaCare, saying that Trump has “abdicated” his responsibility as president by saying he would let the healthcare law fail.

By letting the Affordable Care Act fail as health insurance premiums rise around the country, McAuliffe said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” Trump is ensuring that Americans will be burned by Congress’s inaction.

“Donald Trump has abdicated his responsibility as president,” McAuliffe said. “He is now hurting Americans. And he is going to pay the price, politically.”

{mosads}McAuliffe’s comments came after Trump, in the wake of Senate Republicans’ failure to pass legislation repealing and replacing ObamaCare, said he would “let ObamaCare fail.” 

McAuliffe said that Trump was historically unpopular in his state.

“I find it morally repugnant what the president of the United States said today,” Mcauliffe said. “That potentially 30 million Americans could lose their health insurance, and he’s like a little spoiled kid who picks up his marbles and walks away.”

McAuliffe said that Trump should be acting as a leader to bring Democrats and Republicans together over healthcare, citing negotiations between President Ronald Reagan and former Democratic Speaker Tip O’Neil (Mass.).

“Where is the leadership?” McAuliffe asked. “We have a void of leadership today, he ought to stand up, he ought to be a statesman. He ought to pull together. This is how negotiations are done.” 

“Back when you worked for Tip O’Neil and worked with Bob Michael, Ronald Reagan, Danny Rostenkowski, working with George Bush. Parties came together for the good of the country.”