BY MARIA REGUEIRO

In an interview with the Bruin, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D.), said that the defeat of the bipartisanly disliked American Health Care Act “was the best day for the country since November 8.”

“A bunch of politicians who are paid good salaries are trying to take it [Obamacare] away, and they failed. And that’s great news,” said Senator Brown.

For nearly seven years, the Republican party has attempted to “repeal and replace” Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act or ACA. This new “Trumpcare” replacement plan was the brainchild of the leaders of the Republican Party. It was expected to be supported by the entire Republican Party, and since the GOP has control of the House, Senate, and Presidency, it was expected to easily pass.

However, with no support from the Democrats and split support from moderates and far-right conservatives, the bill was expected to fail when it was voted on last Friday. But instead of facing a defeat, President Trump and Paul Ryan pulled the bill from the vote, making it “dead on arrival” (as a multitude of pundits described it).

Sherrod Brown was not the only Democrat ecstatic with the defeat of the bill and the continuation of Obamacare. House Minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, said in a press conference that the failure of the bill was “a victory for the American people.”

Senator Brown was one of the architects of Obamacare, traditionally called the Affordable Care Act, and thus staunchly opposed the repeal of the act.

“What you saw today was a President, a Speaker of the House, and a number of Republicans, all of whom get health insurance paid for by taxpayers… voting to take it away from a lot of low income voters,” Senator Brown said.

Republicans are claiming that they are creating a “Plan B” healthcare bill. “Healthcare is an easy one,” said President Trump, but the Democratic party is still planning to fight any bill that they do not fully agree with.

“Most of the people who have insurance under the Affordable Care Act are people with jobs making eight, ten, twelve dollars an hour— that’s who we covered in this bill,” explained Senator Brown.

The Bruin staff got the chance to interview Senator Brown at the Ohio School Media Association awards, where Pulitzer-winning columnist Connie Schultz, the spouse of Senator Brown,  was the keynote speaker.