Former prosecutor Jeanine Pirro opened her Fox News show Saturday by calling for Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to step down as Speaker of the House — hours after President Donald Trump posted a tweet telling his followers to tune in.
The host of “Justice with Judge Jeanine” launched the blistering attack in the wake of the failure of the Obamacare repeal bill, known as the American Health Care Act, which was withdrawn by Republican leaders ahead of its scheduled vote Friday on the floor of the House.
Pirro used her opening statement to downplay Trump’s role in the fiasco, placing blame for the bill’s demise squarely on the speaker.
“Paul Ryan needs to step down,” she said. “The reason? He failed to deliver the votes on his health care bill ... The one that he had seven years to work on ... The one that had to be pulled to prevent the embarrassment of not having enough votes to pass.”
She added: “I want to be clear. This is not on President Trump. No one expected a business man to completely understand the nuances, the complicated ins and outs of Washington and its legislative process.”
Pirro said Ryan was culpable for not securing enough votes to pass the bill, despite all of his “swagger and experience” in Congress.
Calling the bill a “total and complete failure,” the host lambasted Ryan for taking on health care reform so early in the president’s term, noting that Ryan should have known better, especially since Trump is “a complete outsider.”
“How could you possibly misjudge this?” she thundered.
“I can only imagine that he and his aides took on health care because they believed you [Ryan] had his back, and you didn’t.”
On Friday, President Trump praised Ryan for working “very, very hard” on the bill, while blaming Democrats for its failure.
But on Saturday, many on Twitter found it curious that Trump promoted Pirro’s show hours before she vehemently demanded Ryan resign.
During her rant, Pirro insisted that she “certainly” hadn’t spoken to the president “about any of this,” despite Trump’s earlier tweet.
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