Republicans blame unpopular bill instead of Trump for failed healthcare plan

Republicans say blame for the GOP’s failure to repeal and replace ObamaCare goes to unpopular legislation and not President Trump, according to a new poll.

The CBS News poll released early Wednesday found that 49 percent of respondents overall, and 41 percent of Republicans, said the bill failed because it “just wasn’t popular.”

The poll found that 56 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of independents believe the bill was unpopular. Just 4 percent of Republicans said the president did not compromise enough on negotiations for the bill, compared with 18 percent of Democrats.

Fourteen percent of all respondents said the bill failed because “Democrats didn’t compromise.” Thirty percent of Republicans blamed Democrats, while just 5 percent of Democrats blamed their party.

{mosads}Republican leaders pulled the measure before a planned vote last Friday when it was clear it did not have the support to pass.

Trump has expressed confidence that he would be able to make a future deal with lawmakers on a healthcare plan.

“I know that we are all going to make a deal on healthcare. That’s such an easy one,” Trump said Tuesday evening during a White House reception for senators. “I have no doubt that that’s going to happen very quickly. We have all been promising it — Democrat, Republican — to the public.”

The CBS News poll also found that Trump’s job approval rating is at 40 percent — up 1 point from 39 percent in late February.

The poll of 1,088 respondents was conducted from March 25 to 28. I has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.