President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers should stick to improving the nation's economy first, before trying to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Bill Kristol, founder and editor-at-large of The Weekly Standard, tells Newsmax TV.
"I'm worried that they're going to tie themselves in knots on the Obamacare issue," Kristol said Monday on "The Steve Malzberg Show." "What did Trump run on? The economy. I would do that first."
Kristol said the drumbeat to pull the plug on the ACA, also known as Obamacare, has been so loud that Republicans may have painted themselves into a corner.
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"I've been in these discussions when I was in government. You talk yourself into, sort of, do you have to do it this way. It's the only way the process will allow, but that's, I think, kind of shortsighted," Kristol said.
"This is the way you make mistakes. You don't step back and say 'what's more important to our success, what's more important to the country, what's more urgent?'"
Kristol said the economy, particularly tax reform, should be at the top of the list.
"People like us tend to believe lower taxes will be good for the economy," he said.
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