Bernie Sanders On 'Trumpcare': Defeat Of 'Trump-Ryan Health Care Bill' Touted As Major Victory

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and his policies, said Friday that the decision by House Republican leaders to pull the legislation calling for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, often referred to as ‘Obamacare,’ was a major victory.

“The defeat of the disastrous Trump-Ryan health care bill is a major victory for the working families of this country and for the hundreds of thousands who attended rallies and town hall meetings in opposition to this bill,” Sanders, who was a presidential candidate in the 2016 election, said in a statement Friday.

Read: President Trump Regrets Making The Repeal Of Obamacare A Priority

Repealing Obamacare was one of the topmost priorities for Trump when he entered office in January this year. The Republicans came up with their alternative to the existing healthcare legislation but it hit numerous roadblocks, from within and outside the party. On Friday, however, it was announced that Obamacare will remain in place after the House Republicans decided to pull their own bill, possibly over lack of support.

“What the defeat of this bill shows is that the American people will not accept legislation that provides huge tax breaks to billionaires while 24 million people are kicked off their health insurance, massive cuts are made to Medicaid and Planned Parenthood and premiums for senior citizens are dramatically increased,” the statement by Sanders continued.

Sanders also took to Twitter to say that repealing Obamacare was not the way forward. Instead, he said, it is important to improve the act. He also said that the U.S. is the only major country to not guarantee healthcare to its people, a fact that he reiterated during an interview with CNN, where he congratulated the Democrats for “killing a really, really bad piece of legislation.”

While House Speaker Paul Ryan, one of the brains behind the Republican legislation, said during a press conference that he did not have enough votes to get the bill passed, President Trump put the blame for the bill’s failure on the Democrats.