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The bigger problem, Cahaly said, is the repeal of Obamacare, billed the Affordable Care Act. Congressional Republicans are caught up in bickering over the best version of repeal to pass.

If they fail to pass repeal, he sees Trump being able to blame Democrats. The Republicans only have 52 senators, Trump will say in 2018, but the party needs more.

A bad repeal bill, meanwhile, is more likely to hurt Republican candidates in 2018 than Trump himself, Cahaly told LifeZette.

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But most pundits believe a failure to repeal Obamacare, after seven years of promises, would be far more devastating to the Republican Party than what Scarborough believes ails the GOP.

“If the Republican Party fumbles the Senate vote, it will suffer — and will deserve to,” Fred Barnes wrote in The Wall Street Journal on Monday. “Having made the death of Obamacare its overriding concern, a GOP that fails to deliver would shatter its credibility. An important element of the Republican brand is its identity as the conservative party. Fewer would see it that way if ObamaCare survives. GOP voter turnout would fall, and the party’s candidates would feel the difference.”

Cahaly believes the Republicans at least need to pass a bill that shows Obamacare will expire at a future date.

Scarborough is a former Republican congressman from Florida’s Panhandle. He served from 1995 to 2001 and has since gone on to host “Morning Joe” on MSNBC. His relationship with Trump has deteriorated, and his attacks on Trump seem designed to gather publicity.

One PR stunt of late was Scarborough announcing he was leaving the GOP. But it all seems a bit self-pitying, since Trump won’t talk to Scarborough anymore. And Trump has been praising “Fox and Friends,” Scarborough’s cable-news morning rival.[lz_pagination]