A Republican senator said Sunday he has been “frustrated” by the focus on President Donald Trump’s tweets, calling them a distraction to the GOP efforts to overhaul the U.S. health care system.
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana made his comments in a pre-recorded segment on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program that aired on the morning that Trump tweeted one of his most inflammatory tweets yet. In the tweet, the president fantasizes about beating up journalists.
“Our focus cannot be on” Trump’s tweets, Cassidy said. “Our focus has to be on that kitchen-table family paying $20-, $30- and $40,000 for their premiums, wondering how they’re going to make ends meet.”
Host Chuck Todd noted that it’s the president himself turning attention aside from the debate on health care, as he did late last week with tweets attacking Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show.
“I get so frustrated when we get focused on tweets,” Cassidy said. “I wake up in the morning and I read about the [Louisiana State University] Tigers. I don’t read about the president’s tweets. And I think we need to have more of a focus on that family [worried about health insurance costs}, not on a president’s tweets.”
Cassidy, a medical doctor in his first term in the Senate, said that Trump’s tweets on the “Morning Joe” hosts were “reprehensible,” but that he tries to not pay much attention to them.
“I liken it to when I have a patient in the intensive care unit. I’m focused on that patient. I walk around all day long thinking about what I can do better,” he said.