Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday he wouldn't be surprised to see Democratic senators from "very Trump states" voting for the Senate Republican Obamacare reform and replace legislation, as they don't want to face criticism back home.
"In the Senate, I wouldn't be shocked — because [Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell is such a great leader — to see two or three Democrats from very Trump states, like North Dakota, Missouri, maybe a decision to vote for West Virginia, some of those may decide to vote for the health bill because they don't want to go home as an anti-Trump liberal," Gingrich told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program.
Democrats have been so traumatized by losing since election night, and "so traumatized by Donald Trump winning," Gingrich said, that they have been incapable of cooperating with anything."
If party members from red states switch their votes in favor of a GOP-devised Obamacare repeal measure, that could change the trend.
"It would be stunning because we haven't seen that in nine years," show co-host Brian Kilmeade commented, but Gingrich insisted that "it's possible."
Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia's Democratic senator, has remained steadfastly against the House version of the American Health Care Act, and has said that while he concedes Obamacare needs repair, it doesn't need to be repealed.
The House bill provides tax cuts for the rich while cutting critical programs West Virginians need, Manchin said during an event in Parkersburg, W.Va, Wednesday night, reports The Parkersburg News and Sentinel.
"The House bill will cut $834 billion from Medicaid and will significantly reduce the critical subsidies that almost 30,000 West Virginians count on. It will result in 122,500 West Virginians losing their health care coverage and reduce health care access for thousands more,” Manchin said. "This is a bad bill for West Virginia, and it was made worse because of the rush to pass it,
House leadership skipped the hard work of writing our laws and put politics ahead of policy.”
Meanwhile, a progressive activist group is targeting Manchin, along with Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Joe Donnelly, D-Ind. because of their involvement in the GOP healthcare discussions, reports Huffington Post.
CREDO Action's billboards are being placed near the airports in their home states from where the senators fly to Washington, D.C.
All three have angered CREDO by engaging in preliminary discussion with Republicans in May, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has criticized his counterparts for holding their discussions in secret.
Manchin, however, has said he supports attempts to find common ground on repairing Obamacare.
"I don’t think there’s a Democrat that would vote for any type of a repeal. But I think there would be 48 Democrats who are willing to work on some repairing or fixing,” he said in May.
Donnelly, meanwhile, has come under criticism for using Obamacare in a fundraising attempt just hours before Anthem, the nation's second largest health insurer, announced it was pulling service from Indiana, reports The Washington Examiner.
"Joe has always cared deeply about making sure all Hoosiers have access to affordable, quality health care which is why he supported the Affordable Care Act," a campaign email said.
Heitkamp, in a Wednesday opinion piece for Inforum, said keeping healthcare is important, but she does know that changes are needed.
"I've long said there are good pieces of the health reform law and parts that need to be fixed," she wrote. "Since 2013, I've regularly held my healthcare advisory board meetings comprised of healthcare leaders across North Dakota to talk about how we can improve healthcare.
"Over the past three and a half years, I've offered a slew of reforms to make the health reform law work better for families and businesses. This is a discussion Republicans and Democrats must have. It's well past time to stop politics and do policy. But the starting point can't be taking away healthcare for families."
Thursday morning, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon warned that the Senate GOP repeal and replace bill will resemble the House version, while causing "a lot of pain" for millions of Americans.
"What we know is that this is going to look a lot like the House bill and it’s going to mean a lot of pain for millions of Americans," Wyden told CNN "New Day" co-anchor Alisyn Camerota. "Senate Republicans are playing with numbers, forgetting that those numbers are people’s lives."
And even while Gingrich believes there will be Democrats who will vote for the GOP-sponsored Senate bill, Wyden predicted his party will keep resisting the bill.
"Tomorrow. a number of Democratic senators are going to have a day of action in their home states," said Wyden. "We’re going to do it on the floor of the United States Senate. We’re talking to a number of provider groups, particularly those in rural America. We’re going to make clear what this means to people’s lives."