Thursday's healthcare vote works as "as tribute" to President Donald Trump and to House Republicans because of their hard work to push it forward, and by waiting, a better bill is being presented, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said early Thursday morning as House members were preparing for their vote.
"You don't actually beat them around the head," Gingrich told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" about Trump's push for the bill. "You do what [he] did yesterday with Rep. Fred Upton, who is a very important leader. He listened to him, he found out what Upton's problem was, and they developed an amendment that solves the problem."
The bill now has provisions for preexisting conditions, said Gingrich, making them "decisively taken care of," which was a provision Trump had campaigned on.
"If this does work today, I'm really looking forward to this vote," said Gingrich. "It is an extraordinary moment. This does work as a tribute to President Trump, first of all, because he personally weighed in, listened to people, thought it through."
In addition, Speaker Paul Ryan did not back down, said Gingrich and kept working at the bill, no matter how hard it was.
He also lauded Freedom Caucus leader Mark Meadows, who came back immediately after the first bill failed to come to a vote and reiterated that House conservatives were not opposed to working further on the measure.
Meadows "held open the door with president to a conversation that ultimately may produce a bill today."
Obamacare, meanwhile, is "disintegrating," said Gingrich.
"In Knoxville, Tennessee, thousands of people won't be able to buy insurance, as insurance company, after insurance company are announcing they're withdrawing from Obamacare," said Gingrich. "People talk about preconditions. If you can't buy any insurance you don't have any protection for anything."
"This means we'll move towards more choices for people," Gingrich said. "We're going to move towards more honestly being able to afford the insurance...the truth is this bill got better by not passing initially."
The bill has also gone through "the opposite" of how Obamacare was "rammed through," said Gingrich.
"This thing has been drawn out so long, so many experts read it taken it apart, so many people written about it, members will know more about the bill than they could have possibly known a month ago," said Gingrich. "Senators are also taking this very seriously. A whole group of Republican senators who have been meeting regularly every week thinking this through, not staff level. The senators themselves."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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