Multiple outlets have picked up on an inside source who relayed an interesting interaction between White House strategist Steve Bannon and House Freedom Caucus members.
Before House Speaker Paul Ryan pulled his healthcare repeal-and-replace bill from going to a vote, Bannon reportedly confronted the group earlier this week, warning them not to vote against the GOP’s healthcare bill and to get with the program.
“Guys, look. This is not a discussion. This is not a debate. You have no choice but to vote for this bill,” Bannon reportedly said, according to Axios.
But Bannon’s attempts to assert himself fell flat. According to sources in the room, one Freedom Caucus member spoke up, saying, “You know, the last time someone ordered me to do something, I was 18 years old. And it was my daddy. And I didn’t listen to him, either.”
Bannon walked into Freedom Caucus meeting,said "This is not a debate. You have no choice but to vote for this bill." And then…(ht @axios) pic.twitter.com/LuqFK8S8lV
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) March 25, 2017
From Axios‘s Mike Allen:
It’s hard to overstate the magnitude of the Day 64 defeat. President Trump, who made repeal-and-replace a central theme of his campaign, and House Republicans, who made it the central theme of every campaign since 2010, lost in a publicly humiliating way despite controlling every branch of government and enjoying margins in the House rarely seen in the past century.
The Freedom Caucus, which is ardently pro-life, were already on rocky ground with the White House. This Friday morning, the President called them out directly in a tweet, saying “The irony is that the Freedom Caucus, which is very pro-life and against Planned Parenthood, allows P.P. to continue if they stop this plan!”
Ultimately, the bill wasn’t able to get the necessary votes and Ryan abandoned the plan, saying Obamacare will remain in place for the “foreseeable future.”
[The Hill/Slate] Featured image via YouTube. To follow Sky Palma on Facebook, click here.
