Congressman Mark Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, spoke with Breitbart News about his thoughts on President Trump’s first 100 days in office.
Meadows commended the actions of President Trump, grading him an A. He explained, “I think he’s accomplished a lot more than what people in the media allege, and coming from my district, a lot of North Carolina people cheer him for doing what he said what he would do. He’s accomplishing a lot, and he’s not afraid to make mistakes. If I were to give him a rating on his first 100 days, I would give him an A, and that’s even counting a new Supreme Court Justice. He’s signed a number of Congressional Review Acts that would undo significant regulatory schemes. He’s set a historical level of being able to repeal actual rules that affects jobs, especially for those in farming and mining; it’s actual progress. And that’s only the first 100 days. Most Americans believe that it will only get better day after day.”
He went on to say, “He’s put America first and has a strong national security emphasis where most Americans will jump up and say it’s about time. They’re tired of losing their jobs overseas, and they’re tired of being politically correct and accepting refugees, where at times those refugees have the potential of creating real harm in our communities. He’s been bold. And he’s been lauded by millions of Americans who cheer that there’s a man in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue who remembers about the forgotten man. And indeed he’s done that.”
Meadows told Breitbart News that President Trump has a work ethic beyond any measure: “I think for a president that came from a non-political background, he quickly learned how Congress works. I think there’s been a learning curve for the president. Here’s a personal story: I don’t know if I have ever been as impressed with a CEO, or a president, who is getting as involved in negotiating the finer details of national security, health care, the economy, or tax reform, to the extent that he’s been willing to get on the phone at midnight and then the next morning at 6:30 a.m. If the American people understood how engaged this president is, and how engaged he is at making his campaign promises fulfilled, the American people would be nothing short of amazed. He works me to death, and I’m a member of Congress. I cannot imagine how hard he works his staff at the White House.”
Continuing, Meadows said, “I know a lot of people will criticize him for the healthcare repeal, when, in actuality, it took Obamacare 17 months to pass, where we will repeal the majority of Obamacare in 17 weeks, and you have to put it in perspective. Everyone has high expectations for draining the swamp; they think it can be done overnight, and he is very methodical and will continue to do so in the next 100 days.”
“I don’t think it is reported much,” Meadows said, “but in the White House, there is a war room with all of his campaign promises, and he goes around checking off his campaign promises to make sure he keeps all of his campaign promises. It is apparent he keeps it very seriously and makes sure we do it correctly.”
The Freedom Caucus chairman believes that the president and Congress can accomplish even more in the next 100 days. He said, “I do believe that we need to start on border security. We need a wall or a sophisticated fence, as long as it secures our border. I want him to continue to work with Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the sanctuary city issue and make sure our cities are secure. I am sure we will have tax reform set out and well in place for the next 100 days. Once we get the economy going and continue to make it open for business for manufacturing, we will start to see the streamlining of the federal government to make sure it is efficient and accountable to the American people. I know he is serious about it, and I know we can restore the American people’s faith in our government.”
Meadows then shared, “I think that many of the battles between Congress and the White House are overstated and that sometimes we criticize because we have great expectations that things will change faster than they have. The other part is that we need to put bills on his desk. The president is very willing to use his pen to sign bills, but we need to make the 50-60 hours a week legislating to make sure that we can get things done. It is incumbent on us in the House and the Senate. We need to legislate expeditiously.”
The North Carolina congressman criticized Democrats for the slow pace of confirming Trump’s administration officials and said that in the next 100 days, we will see Obamacare repealed: “I think that we still have a slow pace of confirmations in the Trump administration, and many of our Democrat colleagues should be ashamed of the slow pace at which they approve those nominees. This is not a president that makes excuses and still gets stuff done despite everything. I think you will be surprised how much we will get in the following weeks.”
“I fully expect,” he added, “that we will repeal most aspects of Obamacare by the end of May. It may have been a deterrent in the first 100 days, but by the end of the first 120 days or so, it will be seen as a significant accomplishment. It’s not how you start; it’s how you finish, as the as song used to say. We will have an excellent finish.”
In summary of his thoughts on Trump’s first 100 days, Meadows said, “I’m not tired of winning yet. Let’s keep winning! I love to be exhausted on winning!”