Dispatches from Trump's America: After Trumpcare bill becomes DOA, Trump lies about his promise to repeal and replace ACA quickly

You'd think that after 64 days as President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, the self-styled master of The Art of the Deal, would drop his "alternative facts" shtick and, for once, tell the truth about his words and deeds. Especially his words, because now that he sits in the Oval Office, every utterance (or Twitter tweet) has the potential of becoming national policy. 

Well, you would think that if Mr. Trump had learned anything about the Presidency and real leadership before he made his fateful decision to throw his hat in the Presidential campaign ring two years ago. There are plenty of books about the good, the bad, and the ugly Administrations that have led our government since 1789 that Mr. Trump can read, for Pete's sake. Or, since the 45th Chief Executive doesn't like to read, he could probably log on to Netflix, Amazon Video, or any streaming channel that offers documentaries along the lines of The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. 

But, sadly, Mr. Trump is not known for his intellectual capacity or his willingness to adapt to his new role as leader of the Free World. Nor is he known for his grace or humility. (I mean, seriously, people. This is the guy who infamously bragged about the size of his penis in one campaign speech, and was heard bragging to Billy Bush about being able to grab women by the pussy.)  

So...yesterday Mr. Trump had his arse handed to him on a plate when Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) went to the White House to tell him that the American Health Care Act (aka "Trumpcare") was not going to pass because several Republican members refused to change their "Nay" votes to "Ayes."  And because none of the Democratic representatives were willing to cross party lines and vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act of 2010, Trumpcare was essentially dead on arrival. 

Mr. Trump may not be the sharpest tack in the Presidential pack, but even he saw that the writing on the wall and decided to pull the bill rather than go through another futile attempt to pass Trumpcare and fulfill his oft-made pledge to "repeal and replace Obamacare quickly."

This, in my view, was a wise move, because doing otherwise would have been an exercise in futility that would weaken Mr. Trump's already eroded capacity to lead the country.

But, true to form, Mr. Trump once again tried to rewrite history to make the defeat seem less, well, like a defeat by claiming that he had never promised to "repeal and replace Obamacare" quickly.

According to a fact-check by Disney-owned ABC News, it ain't necessarily so, Donnie boy.

Following the collapse of the Republican-backed American Health Care Act this afternoon, President Donald Trump appeared to backtrack on his long-held stance that President Obama's signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, should be repealed and replaced "immediately."

“I never said -- I guess I'm here, what, 64 days? I never said repeal and replace Obamacare -- you've all heard my speeches -- I never said repeal it and replace it within 64 days," said Trump in the Oval Office Friday. "I have a long time.”

This is something rather odd and disingenuous for Mr. Trump to say in front of reporters, much less to the American people, considering how many times he said that he would get rid of Obamacare - an endeavor that the Republican party has tried - and failed - to accomplish over the past seven years.

Per ABC, the Twitterer-in-Chief make this pledge in his public (and thus recorded) campaign speeches not just once, but many times. 

Like he does here in this speech in November 2016

And again in January 2017, nine days before the Inauguration

Somebody in the White House -perhaps First Daughter and de facto FLOTUS Ivanka - should teach Mr. Trump to look in YouTube for videos of his speeches before he says anything like "I never said X or promised Y." Because, Dear Reader, he is usually wrong 10 times out of 10. 

Per ABC:

Trump's campaign website noted the promise in clear terms, saying, "On day one of the Trump Administration, we will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare."

At a speech in St. Augustine, Florida on Oct. 24, he vowed to repeal the current health care law as a part of his "contract with the American voter."

"It's a set of promises for what I'll do in my first 100 days. It includes getting rid of immediately Obamacare, which is a disaster," said Trump.

The line referencing an "immediate" "repeal and replace" was a staple of his stump speech, appearing regularly throughout an ABC News review of transcripts from Trump's primary and general election campaign events.

Mr. Trump also said this on November 1, a week before his electoral win:

“When we win on November 8th and elect a Republican Congress, we will be able to immediately repeal and replace Obamacare -- have to do it," said Trump, who also added, "Obamacare has to be replaced and we will do it and we will do it very, very quickly."

A campaign press release on the speech doubled down on the promise in its title: "Donald J. Trump pledges to immediately repeal and replace Obamacare."

So, yeah. Mr. Trump is being - yet again - blatantly dishonest when he claims he didn't say that he and the Republican-controlled Congress would get rid of the ACA and replace it within the first 100 days of his Administration. 

Source:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fact-checking-trumps-repeal-replace-obamacare-timeline/story?id=46360908