Jordan Fires Back at Priebus: AHCA ‘Wasn’t Even Good’

A founding member of the House Freedom Caucus and the group’s former chairman blasted White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus for asking Republicans to settle for the “good” over the “perfect” in health care reform during an interview Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

A day earlier, Priebus defended the American Health Care Act and President Donald Trump’s criticism of the House Freedom Caucus for its part in tanking the bill in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

“You know, Mr. Priebus was talking about don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Well, this wasn’t even good. When no one likes the legislation, you have to do it different.”

“Remember, the lesson here is don’t try to pass a bill that only 17 percent of the country approves of. That’s a problem,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski.

Priebus himself critiqued members of the House Freedom Caucus for refusing to back the GOP leadership plan he claimed would deliver significant health care reform.

“We can’t be chasing the perfect all the time,” Priebus told host Chris Wallace. “I mean, sometimes you have to take the good and put it in your pocket and take the win.”

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Jordan disputed the notion the bill was acceptable, let alone perfect.

“You know, Mr. Priebus was talking about don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Well, this wasn’t even good,” Jordan said. “When no one likes the legislation, you have to do it different.”

Trump quickly criticized the Freedom Caucus and other conservative groups and think tanks for refusing to back the AHCA after the bill was yanked from a vote Friday. In a tweet Sunday morning, Trump wrote, “Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare!”

When Wallace asked Priebus about Trump’s tweet, he said the president “is 100 percent correct and he hits the bull’s-eye in that tweet, like he often does.”

“But you’re right, at the end of the day, I believe that it’s time for the party to start governing. And I think that’s important,” Priebus added.

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Jordan, however, rebuked Priebus for defending the failed AHCA — a bill that so many Americans opposed.

“And that’s what we were saying. It wasn’t going to bring down premiums, it had a host of problems,” Jordan said. “And frankly, the key promise we made the American people in the 2010, 2014, and 2016 election was we would repeal Obamacare. This legislation didn’t do that. And that was the fundamental flaw in this entire process. So let’s get back to work and let’s do what we said we would do.”