Democrats borrow from Trump to criticize Senate healthcare bill

Democrats on Thursday borrowed President Trump's criticism of the House GOP healthcare bill to bludgeon Senate Republicans' new proposal to partially repeal Obamacare.

In what was undoubtedly a preview of their party's 2018 advertising, House and Senate Democrats in a series of floor speeches tarred the Better Care Reconciliation Act as "even meaner" than the American Health Care Act.

"You can put a lace collar on a Pit Bull, and it's still a mean dog. What we have with the Republicans in the Senate here is an attempt to dust off the edges of the House bill and say this is not as mean," Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said. "This is still a mean dog."

The Democratic attack was ripped directly from Trump's slam on the AHCA. During a recent White House meeting with Republican senators, the president called the House bill "mean, mean, mean," saying the final product that he signs needs to be "more generous and kind."

Trump's comments could be a gift to Democrats, especially in the Senate. The party is defending several incumbents up for re-election in several red states and has only two realistic Republican incumbents to target: Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Dean Heller of Nevada.