Former chairman defends Freedom Caucus

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, defended conservative lawmakers after President Trump threatened Thursday morning to “fight” them in 2018 elections for refusing to back the GOP’s healthcare plan. 

“The Freedom Caucus is trying to change Washington. This bill keeps Washington the same, plain and simple,” Jordan said Thursday on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom.”

“We appreciate the president; we are trying to help the president. But the fact is, you have to look at the legislation. It doesn’t do what we told the voters we were going to do, and the American people understand that. That’s why only 17 percent of the population supports this legislation.”

{mosads}Trump has blasted members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus after a lack of support from both moderate and conservative Republicans led Trump and GOP leadership to pull its plan from the floor last week. 

Thursday morning opened yet another salvo, with a Trump tweet that alluded to potential primary challenges for those who refused to support the healthcare plan.  

The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 30, 2017

Jordan wouldn’t comment on the threat regarding the 2018 midterms, instead characterizing the scuttled healthcare vote as just a “postponement” and arguing that Republicans will succeed if they deliver on their promises to voters. 

“Lets forget the blame and what may happen in the future, lets just do what we said. That’s what the Freedom Caucus and what Republicans are committed to,” he said.