White House press secretary Sean Spicer tried to signal optimism about the future of the House health care replacement bill despite a gloomy outlook about it’s future in Washington D.C.
“There is no question in my mind at least that the president and the team here have left everything on the field,” Spicer said during the White House press briefing on Friday.
Trump and his White House team publicly supported the bill, hosting members of congress at the White House, visiting Capitol Hill, even conducting a rally with Senate Majority Leder Mitch McConnell in Kentucky. He also held several meetings with Speaker Paul Ryan and participated on several phone calls to promote the effort.
But many Republican members of congress remained stubbornly opposed to the bill despite efforts by House Speaker Paul Ryan and House leadership to move votes in a different direction. At this point, over 30 members have signaled that they will not support the bill.
Even as Spicer was briefing the press corps, Ryan traveled to the White House to meet with Trump about the future of his signature effort. Spicer defended Ryan’s participation in the process, adding that he “has done everything he can” to sell the bill.
When asked if the president still supported Ryan as speaker, Spicer referred to an early comment the president made after the Keystone pipeline event in the Oval Office. After reporters asked the president if Ryan should remain Speaker, Trump reportedly replied “Yes,” according to a reporter in the room.
Spicer also took offense after reporters suggested the bill would fail.
“Turn on C-SPAN and we’ll watch this together,” he said.
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