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Trump blames Democrats for failure of bill to replace Obamacare

President Donald Trump blamed Democrats and a few holdouts in his own party Tuesday for the collapse of the latest Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare -- one of Trump's key campaign pledges.

(FILES) This file photo taken on June 28, 2017 shows protesters against the US Senate Republicans’ healthcare bill holding a rally outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC. The future of the Republican effort to squash Obamacare hung in the balance July 17, 2017 with Senator John McCain, whose vote is needed to pass the legislation, recovering from surgery away from Washington.There are no votes to spare in the contentious effort to pass a new health care reform bill through Congress, where Republican leaders are desperate to fulfill President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to dismantle the 2010 reforms of his predecessor Barack Obama. So when McCain, 80, announced that doctors in Phoenix removed a five-centimeter (two-inch) blood clot above his eye — a procedure that experts told US media might be more serious than initially thought — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would “defer” the upcoming vote on the bill by at least a week. / AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB

President Donald Trump blamed Democrats and a few holdouts in his own party Tuesday for the collapse of the latest Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare — one of Trump’s key campaign pledges.

A Republican drive in the Senate to come up with a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act fell apart Monday when two more Republican senators came out against their party’s legislation.

That made for a total of four holdouts — the party has 52 seats in the 100-member legislature — and effectively doomed the legislation.

The collapse is a stinging blow to Trump and Republicans who have vowed for seven years that they would quickly dump former president Barack Obama’s signature health care reform as soon as they could.

“We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans. Most Republicans were loyal, terrific & worked really hard. We will return!” Trump said in a tweet Tuesday morning.

“As I have always said, let ObamaCare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan. Stay tuned!,” he added.

Actually, Trump has consistently advocated repealing and replacing Obamacare at the same time, rather than doing it in stages, and has said it could be done quickly.

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