White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Friday that the chances of the Senate health care bill passing are “very high.”
When asked in a Fox News interview what the odds of the newly released Senate health care bill were, Mr. Spicer said, “Very high. I think the Senate has taken a remarkably positive step forward. [Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell] has continued to work with his members to make sure that we improve the bill that the House passed over to it. And I think that we’re going to move forward and get this done.”
He also added that the White House is looking forward to next week’s anticipated vote on the law.
“We feel we’re in a really good place right now, and we look forward, as Sen. McConnell has talked about, a vote next week,” the press secretary said.
Mr. Spicer pushed back against former President Barack Obama’s comments that the new law is “mean,” saying the real meanness is telling people Obamacare is an option for them when it’s actually “dead.”
“I don’t know how it’s mean to provide people health care. The president made it clear that he wants to make health care not only accessible, but affordable. To give someone a card that is useless because you can’t afford to get care, you can’t get in to see a doctor, doesn’t really mean anything,” Mr. Spicer said.
“I understand that some Democrats that fought so hard for Obamacare are clinging to it, but the reality is it’s an unfair comparison because Obamacare has died. It is over. It is in need of it’s own health care,” he said.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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