A Republican Senator told the NY Times off the record, "The president, he said, scares no one in the Senate, not even the pages."
This comes as Trump tries to salvage the massive failure on his part and the Republican controlled Congress, who haven't been able pass a repeal and replace health care bill to offset Obamacare that hey ran on for seven years.
The man from takes his cues from George C. Scott's General Patton movie has been incapable of scaring the lies of Ron Johnson.
Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman published their new piece called: Inspiring Little Fear in Senators, Trump Struggles to Sell Health Bill
Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, a state Trump won, was not shy and has said that he could not be bullied into supporting this bill and remarked that he's not afraid of Trump at all.
They write that Trump's low approval ratings and a bad bill cannot hold enough sway to move them:
Fear is perhaps the most powerful motivating force in politics, and fear of a powerful president is the surest lever to move a lawmaker from a “no” to a “yes” on a presidential priority. But over the past month, Mr. Trump scared no one into supporting the bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. He has proved simply too unpopular nationally — polling at 36 to 40 percent approval this week — too weak in many senators’ home states, too erratic and too disengaged from the details of governing to harness his party, as other new presidents have.
Mr. Trump ran on being a master negotiator and deal maker, but has struck out early and often during his first six months in office.
“Right now, nobody’s afraid of Trump, and that’s a real problem,” said Rob Jesmer, the former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and once a top aide to Senator John Cornyn of Texas...
“Where is he on local talk radio? Where is the trip to Kansas to say, ‘Hey, Jerry, we’re really close on this and could use your help’? It’s what he does well, getting out there and making the case. I don’t get why he hasn’t been more engaged.”
Seems like he'd rather play golf than stump for his signature piece of legislation.
A Republican senator, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he wanted to preserve his relationship with Mr. Trump, put it more bluntly. The president, he said, scares no one in the Senate, not even the pages.
This is most telling, and hopefully Trump won't start attacking the pages in response to this article.
If anything, Trump has been running scared ever since the Russian investigations began and it has consumed his every waking moment.
Trump still is polling well with Republicans who voted for him so Speaker Mitch McConnell is holding a "Motion to Proceed" vote next week to repeal Obamacare and scare Senators who are blocking the disastrous Senate health care bill.
The CBO just scored another version of the bill which calculates 22 million Americans would lose coverage under their replacement.
Good luck with that.