Prez needs to stop shooting himself in foot with distractions
Stick with what you were elected to do, Mr. President. Americans were not clamoring for a transgender military ban. They want jobs. They want better and cheaper health care. Trump’ s surprise directive ordering the military to keep transgender individuals from serving may be appealing to some of his supporters, but it’s an unnecessary political blunder. And especially bad timing. The order came on a day that the GOP’s plan to repeal Obamacare failed miserably, with seven Republicans — including ailing Arizona Sen. John McCain — jumping ship and voting no. McCain was then among those leading the charge against Trump’s transgender ban, a sign that once again his own party is defying him. McCain knows more than most about the military, and Trump never served. Do you think McCain is now more or less likely to buck the White House on health care?
Trump even seemed to surprise his own military leaders. His tweet announcing the ban came just a few weeks after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis gave his chiefs six months to conduct a review to determine whether transgender individuals would affect the “readiness or lethality” of the force.
So why the hurry? And why in the middle of a crucial health care debate?
Trump should focus on trying to keep his own party in line to enact some kind of repeal and reform of Obamacare. It’s his No. 1 political priority and an important one for the future of health care.
We were told Trump was also going to start pushing for needed tax reforms, but apparently that’s now taking a back seat to enacting social policy that most Americans never asked for.
Voters who backed Trump want him to turn Washington upside down, and the president needs to make good on that promise.
But in his zeal to overturn yet another Obama directive, Trump has now angered many voters — especially young people who overwhelmingly accept transgender rights — and irked members of his own party.
That’s not a way to rally his party and convince wavering GOP senators to dump Obamacare. It may have only convinced them that Trump is out of touch.
Health care reform may already be doomed, but Trump at least has to keep trying.
If the president was simply looking for a distraction from the shaky prospects of health care reform, he got it. But it’s not the kind of distraction he needs.