**UPDATE**
After Judge Jeanine’s show aired, Speaker Ryan revealed that the president personally called him to apologize for the Fox News host’s comments.
On Friday, House Republicans pulled a scheduled vote on the American Health Care Act, after leaders failed to round up enough Republican votes for passage.
The bill, which was heavily promoted by House Speaker Paul Ryan and his allies on the Hill, represents a major setback for establishment Republicans. While President Trump placed much of the blame for the bill’s demise on House Democrats, who refused to work with the President and Republicans, a Saturday morning tweet may have signaled his true feelings about who’s to blame.
Originally, the President placed part of the blame on the House Freedom Caucus, which was unwilling to back the establishment bill:
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2017
However, less than 24 hours later, the President encouraged his millions of followers to tune in and watch a Fox News show… one that ended up making major waves:
Watch @JudgeJeanine on @FoxNews tonight at 9:00 P.M.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2017
So what did Judge Jeanine say following the president’s call to watch her show? Well, the Fox News host openly called for Speaker Paul Ryan to resign from his leadership role, saying that “he failed to deliver the votes on his health care bill.”
From Fox News:
The one that he had seven years to work on. The one he hid under lock and key in the basement of Congress. The one that had to be pulled to prevent the embarrassment of not having enough votes to pass.
But this bill didn’t just fail — it failed when Republicans had the House, the Senate, the White House.
And the timing? It failed within the first 70 days of President Donald Trump’s administration. A president who made replacement of ObamaCare the hallmark of his campaign. And then used valuable political capital to accomplish it.
Americans elected the one man they believed could do it. A complete outsider. Someone beholden to no one — but them.
And Speaker Ryan, you come in, with all your swagger and experience, and you sell him a bill of goods which ends up a complete and total failure. And you allow our president, in his first one hundred days, to come out of the box like that? Based on what? Your legislative expertise? Your knowledge of the arcane ins and outs of the bill writing process? Your relationships? What? Your drinks at the Hay-Adams with your pals?
Folks, I want to be clear: this is NOT on President Trump. No one expected a businessman to completely understand the nuances, the complicated ins and outs of Washington and its legislative process. How would he know which individuals upon whom he would be able to rely? Many of them, friends and establishment colleagues of Speaker Ryan.
Here’s video of Judge Jeanine’s full comments:
Following Judge Jeanine’s call for Speaker Ryan’s resignation, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus quickly tried to distance her comments from the President, telling Fox News’ Chris Wallace that President Trump supports Speaker Ryan and the tweet was “more coincidental” and “there was no pre-planning here.”
Interesting!
Do you believe that President Trump’s tweet was simply coincidental and he really stands behind Speaker Ryan? Or is he using Fox News’ Judge Jeanine to channel his true feelings? Share your thoughts below!