Scarborough: Bannon trying to ‘help his falling standing’ in WH

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough says White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon is “trying to save his hide inside the White House” following reports of another effort to try to repeal and replace ObamaCare after failing to do so last week.

“This is idiotic for them to be talking about this because … they’re just pointing back to their failures of last week and the week before, and the broken promises,” the “Morning Joe” host said to open the show. 

“[Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell has got it right. Democrats have what they want. They have the status quo. Let’s just see how that works out,” he continued. 

Scarborough said Bannon, the former chairman of alt-right website Breitbart, is behind the renewed push on healthcare. 

“Why is Steve Bannon — is he trying to help his falling standing inside the White House?” Scarborough asked, calling Bannon a “website operator until August of ’16.” 

{mosads}”I know he’s in this battle to the death with other members and he’s trashing everybody else inside of there to other reporters. But is this Steve Bannon trying to save his hide inside the White House?”

NBC News analyst Mark Halperin agreed, adding that an unresolved healthcare fight will only “complicate everything” in terms of other big-ticket agenda items for Trump and the GOP. 

“I think you’re right and Senator McConnell is right about the overriding dynamic. I think there are three factors propelling them to try and try again and not just walk away,” Halperin said. 

“One is, on a matter of policy, Republicans are united — they don’t like status quo. They don’t want to be saddled with the downsides of the Affordable Care Act and not try to move the country towards a more market-oriented system,” he added. 

“Two, they really weren’t that far apart for a deal that could win a majority in the House, not necessarily in the Senate, but they were not that far away from trying to get to the next step. And, finally, you know, if they don’t get health care out of the way, it complicates everything.” 

President Trump indicated that “big tax cuts” and tax reform will be the next items the administration and Congress will attempt to tackle. 

“I would say that we will probably start going very, very strongly for the big tax cuts and tax reform. That will be next,” Trump said Friday following the defeat of House Republicans’ ObamaCare replacement bill, the American Health Care Act.