The Daily Beast's Jackie Kucinich said to CNN's Nia-Malika Henderson on Sunday that it would be interesting to see what kind of reception President Obama will receive when he meets congressional Democrats next week, adding that the president has hung his party "out to dry" during his time in the White House.
Obama will meet Wednesday with Democrats on Capitol Hill to discuss ways to protect Obamacare from being dismantled by the incoming Republican majority, Politico reported Friday. Kucinich noted that the president has not made building relationships with lawmakers a priority during his tenure.
"He is someone who hasn't really made Congress a priority ... or the party in general over his last eight years," Kucinich said. "Just at the end there did he start kicking in and, you know, trying to make up for lost time. So that will be really interesting in addition to him trying to save Obamacare."
"It will be interesting to see how Democrats in that room receive a man who led them the last eight years but kind of, in a lot of ways, led them out to dry," Kucinich continued.
House and Senate Democrats are set to meet with Obama at 9 a.m. on Wednesday at the Capitol Visitors Center auditorium, Politico reported. President-elect Donald Trump has said that he would repeal portions of the health care law while Republicans have said they want to repeal the law in its entirety.
Obama and Democrats have ridiculed Republicans for their threat and have tried to claim that the GOP does not have a replacement for the president's landmark law.
The Democratic Party is currently looking to rebuild after a devastating loss that cost Democrats the presidential election and the possibility to hold a majority in either chamber of Congress.