Democrats ‘joyous’ after Obamacare victory

Washington, March 25 (IANS) US Democrats were joyous after the House of Representatives cancelled a scheduled vote on President Donald Trump's bill to replace Obamacare, the media reported.

In a rare public comment, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that the "victory happened because people in every corner of our country committed their time and energy to calling their representatives, showing up at town hall meetings, and making their voices heard," CNN reported.

The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee also tweeted a series of messages highlighting people she encountered on the campaign trail who spoke to her about their health care issues or crediting Obamacare for helping them.

On Friday, House Speaker Paul Ryan said he and President Donald Trump agreed it would be better to withdraw the bill once it became clear that the measure would fail due to defections among the Republican majority.

Republicans have spent the last seven years denouncing Obamacare or the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), the signature domestic programme former President Barack Obama.

Other Democrats also joined in the victory celebrations.

"Hey Republicans, don't worry, that burn is covered under the Affordable Care Act," tweeted Bob Menendez, a Democratic senator from New Jersey.

Obama's spokesman, Kevin Lewis, tweeted several photos of the former President in celebratory poses, CNN reported.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said during a news conference on Friday, "Today's a great day for our country...It's pretty exciting for us."

Meanwhile, Trump blamed the Democrats for the failure of his healthcare bill.

Speaking to the Washington Post, Trump said: "We couldn't get one Democratic vote, and we were a little bit shy, very little, but it was still a little bit shy, so we pulled it."

Repealing and replacing the programme known as Obamacare was one of his major election pledges.