Rep. Thomas Massie tweeted that he planned to vote "HELL NO" on the AHCA. | AP Photo GOP Rep. Massie: Health care bill is ‘worse than Obamacare’

Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie said Thursday that the Trump administration had not convinced him to change his vote on the bill to replace Obamacare, and said that he hoped it would sink in the House.

“I am still very much opposed to the bill,” Massie said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Thursday. “I think it’s worse than Obamacare.”


Massie, who on Wednesday tweeted that he planned to vote “HELL NO” on the bill, is one of several Republican legislators who have become increasingly vocal about their opposition to the bill, which the White House has billed is the only chance Republicans will have to replace the Affordable Care Act.

Massie criticized the bill as “replacing mandates, subsidies and penalties with mandates, subsidies and penalties.”

“Frankly, it’s not very well thought out,” he added. “And right now, here in the last four hours, it’s like a rocket that’s lost its fins. It’s getting less stable in terms of planning. I don’t know where this thing’s going to land. Hopefully it lands in the ocean and this thing just sinks.”

The bill, which is set to be voted on later Thursday, increasingly appears in jeopardy as both moderate Republicans and members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus have voiced their opposition. The Freedom Caucus said Wednesday that there were enough “no” votes in its caucus to sink the bill, forcing the Trump team to make some concessions to appease the Freedom Caucus. Those concessions, in turn, made some moderate Republican legislators announce their opposition to the bill — though last-minute deal-making continues.

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The Trump team has tried to twist the arms of other legislators, suggesting that Republicans who did not support the bill could face primary challenges in the midterm elections. That, too, seemed to backfire. The conservative Koch brothers' Freedom Partners, whose funding is crucial to many GOP lawmakers, said Wednesday that they would step up and back legislators who voted against the bill, providing additional support and political cover to lawmakers who do not support Trump's legislative agenda.

