A scheduled House vote on the Republican health-care bill was delayed Thursday evening after conservative Freedom Caucus members announced a "no" stance on the legislation following an afternoon meeting with President Trump. Losing the support of the Freedom Caucus, which believes the GOP health-care replacement is too similar to ObamaCare, ultimately left Republicans with too few votes for the bill to pass. By Thursday evening, Trump had issued a frustrated ultimatum: Either Republicans approve the American Health Care Act on Friday, or ObamaCare stays.
By Friday morning, Trump had taken to Twitter in an attempt to crank up the pressure on the mutinous Freedom Caucus:
Some observers have pointed out that Trump's attempts to coerce the Freedom Caucus could easily backfire. "I can't think of a Freedom Caucus member who would change their vote as a result of this attack," tweeted Axios reporter Jonathan Swan. "If anything would just enrage [and] solidify."
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