President Donald Trump's declaration he is willing to work with Democrat lawmakers to move his agenda forward is "a rookie idea" that will not end well, former House majority leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, told Newsmax TV.
"It's a rookie idea," DeLay told Monday's "The Steve Malzberg Show." "This happens all the time when the conservatives do the right thing and stand on principle and kill a bad idea, then the leadership runs to the Democrats.
"[Former GOP House Speaker] John Boehner tried to do that – he's no longer speaker. [George H.W.] Bush tried to do that in 1992 and '93 to raise taxes, and people like me helped kill that bill, and he ran to the Democrats and lost his presidency. If you lay down with dogs, in Texas you'll get up with fleas."
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Trump's offer to work with Democrats came after his own party rejected the American Health Care Act, which was to replace the Affordable Care Act.
DeLay said if Republican lawmakers are smart, they will consider the failure of the American Health Care Act as "a great opportunity."
"The opportunity is they can create the market that is necessary for people to go and make a choice on their health insurance," DeLay told host Steve Malzberg.
"There's just a lot of ideas out there to create a pre-market . . . to provide the kind of health insurance that people want, not necessarily what they need, and maybe what they need."
DeLay is the author of "Revival! Revolution! Rebirth!" written with Wallace Henley and published by WND Books.
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