Trump Blames Democrats In Wake Of Defeat On Health Care Bill

WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The failure of President Trump's healthcare reform bill is casting a cloud over his first 100 days in office.

The president is now pointing fingers at Democratic leaders for not supporting his plan, despite having a Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

The failure is now raising questions as to whether his administration will fulfill a campaign promise to replace Obamacare.

Trump doubled down Saturday on his statement that "Obamacare will explode," but Friday, Congress failed to pass a Republican bill to reform the Affordable Care Act -- calling into question whether the Trump administration will be able to get one passed at all.

"We're going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future," House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday. "I don't know how long it's going to take us to replace this law."

Vice President Mike Pence told a gathering Saturday in Scott Depot, West Virginia, that "we will end the Obamacare nightmare and give the American people the world class health care that they deserve."

He told a few hundred people at construction materials firm Foster Supply that Friday's setback was a victory for the status quo in Washington, D.C., "but I promise you that victory won't last very long."

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said at a town hall meeting Saturday that the president needs to reach across the aisle to get something done.

"I think the president should reach out to Democrats," Graham (R-SC) said. "I should reach out to Democrats, and we should say, 'Let's take a shot at doing this together, because it ain't working it doing it by ourselves'."

The president has suggested he would work with Democrats on the bill, but his tone wasn't exactly conciliatory.

"What would be really good, with no Democratic support... if the Democrats, when it explodes, which will be soon, if they got together with us and got a real healthcare bill, I'd be totally open to it," Trump said.

The president blamed Democrats for not engaging with the process of dismantling the Affordable Care Act, a process which Senator Graham heavily criticized.

"Does it sound familiar that people were being threatened to vote yes, some people being bribed to vote yes? Sounds a lot like Obamacare to me, so that's what I didn't like about it," Graham said Saturday.

With his healthcare plan seemingly gone, the president now says he will likely turn his attention to start working on his tax reform plan.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)