Schumer: Dems Will Work On Obamacare if Repeal Push is Dropped

President Donald Trump may be blaming Democrats for the loss of the American Health Care Act, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said his party is willing to work with Obamacare repairs, just as long as Republicans drop their demands to repeal the law.

"We Democrats, provided our Republican colleagues drop replace and stop undermining the ACA (Affordable Care Act) are willing to work with our Republican friends," the New York Democrat told ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos. "As long as they say 'no more repeal.' That's a loser."

Seventeen percent of Americans liked "Trumpcare," said Schumer.

"That's it," he said. "They didn't want it. Stop undermining ACA, and we'll work with them. We have ideas, they have ideas to try to improve Obamacare. We never said it was perfect. We always said we'd work with them to improve it. We just said repeal was off the table."

Further, Schumer said it's "not presidential" for Trump to say he'll destroy or undermine the ACA.

"That's petulant," said Schumer. "Being petulant, not a president. It's not going to work. The job of the president is to make Americans' lives better, and if he, out of anger or vengeance or whatever, starts undermining ACA, it's going backfire on him because he's the president and the American people know he's in charge and they want him to make things better."

Tax reform is up next, but Schumer said that will lose as well if Trump continues with traits that "are not very helpful."

"The first is basic lack of competence," said Schumer. "You cannot run the presidency like you run a real estate deal...you can't threaten and intimidate and say I'll walk away. It's more complicated."

In addition, Schumer said Trump campaigned as a populist, but he's been "captured by the hard right wealthy special interests" who loved his healthcare proposal for giving "huge tax cuts to the rich."

"If they do the same thing on tax reform, and the overwhelming majority of the cuts go to the very wealthy, the special interests, corporate America, and the middle class and poor people are left out, they'll lose again," said Schumer.

Schumer also said Trump seems to be heading again toward wealthy special interests with his push for infrastructure.

"The tax breaks he's proposing, 82 cents on the dollar, goes to the financiers," said Schumer. "In the places where those tax breaks will work, you're getting huge tolls. The American people don't want tolls on every highway. And third, it is building nothing in rural America and large parts of exurban America because they just can't pay those tolls. "

Schumer also spoke about the upcoming confirmation vote for Supreme Court justice nominee Neil Gorsuch, insisting that it should take 60 votes to approve him.

"Sixty votes makes sense," he said. "You get bipartisan support. You avoid judges far right or far left. And each of the four last judges, two by President Bush, Alito and Roberts; two by President Obama, Bagan and Sotomayor, met that 60-vote standard."

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