Samantha Bee Revels in the Failure of the Obamacare Repeal

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After managing to alienate ultra-conservatives and Democrats for opposite reasons (the far right’s seemingly being that leaving 24 million people uninsured by 2026 wasn’t quite callous enough), the American Health Care Act was killed last Friday. The news gave people (particularly those who’d feared they’d… die and stuff) one of the more rewarding weekend sendoffs since Donald Trump took office and began doing everything he could to augment America’s corporate (and, in his separate budget blueprint, military) bloat at the expense of the lives of the people who live here. Among the people providing celebratory commentary was Samantha Bee, on Full Frontal.

“After seven long years, our national nightmare of somewhat affordable health coverage would finally be over,” Samantha Bee opened, before then delving into why those Trump administration dreams were (at least momentarily — we’ll get to that) dashed.

Bee ultimately noted that the “bill was killed by friendly fire” — the Democrats weren’t going to vote for it to begin with, so the fact that Paul Ryan and the Trump administration couldn’t muster GOP enthusiasm speaks to the (thankful) ineptitude of their attempt. Bee cut to Donald Trump retroactively defending the Bill and mourning its loss, saying how, “a lot of people don’t realize how good our bill was, because they were viewing phase 1, but when you add phase 2 and you add phase 3, which I think we would have gotten, it would’ve been a great bill.”

“I believe that’s known as the ‘I’m a grower not a shower’ defense,” said Bee. She also makes a joke that’s probably the first and last instance in which you’ll hear Paul Ryan and Trump equated with Thelma and Louise.

But alas, the attempt to kill Obamacare may still haunt us. “When you’re really quiet and the wind blows just right, you can still hear Paul Ryan sobbing into his Ayn Rand doll,” Bee added. And it may still haunt in less amusingly fantastical ways too: the New York Times reported Tuesday that “under extreme pressure from conservative activists, House Republican leaders and the White House have restarted negotiations on legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act.” House Republican whip Steve Scalise called celebrations from Dems “premature.” Even more unsettling: Steve Bannon is apparently a key contributor to the new talks for an alternate strategy/new legislation. This, however, is mostly taking place within the House, while the Times notes that Senate Republicans seem to be more interested in other (likely kinda scary) pursuits right now.

So, here’s Bee’s clip. It’s funny. It revels in the failure. You can also celebrate a momentary victory…and then prepare for more bullshit.