The God-Emperor tells Republicans to get in line:
President Donald Trump arrived on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning with a stern message for Republicans who’ve been wobbly about dismantling Obamacare: Give me your vote or you may lose your seat in 2018.
During a closed-door meeting with the House GOP conference, the president gave a full-throated endorsement to the House repeal bill that will come to the floor for a vote on Thursday. He warned that if Republicans don’t pass the bill, “I honestly think many of you will lose your seats in 2018.”
Trump even called out the bill’s most vocal critic in the House, Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who’s led the conservative opposition to the Republican health care plan. “Mark, I’m gonna come after you” if he keeps it up, Trump said, according to multiple sources.
The sources cautioned that Trump may have been “half joking,” as one put it. He winked and he smiled at Meadows, and acknowledged the congressman was a strong supporter of his campaign.
But singling out Meadows in front of his colleagues sent a clear message: Trump wants him to get in line. And fast.
I have no doubt that the bill isn’t as good as it should be. Who cares? The point is that Republicans have to stop pretending that they’re going to act someday and start acting. Their careers depend upon it.
No one is interested in the noble principles and noble defeats of conservatism any longer. That ship has sunk.