Former Democratic Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (Tenn.) criticized Democrats on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Wednesday for not recognizing problems with the Affordable Care Act and for not helping Republicans solve them in the new health care bill.
Host Joe Scarborough said that the Republican health care bill would "never pass without Democratic support."
"Remember [Barack] Obama started off with this health care plan. So we have to expand accessibility, expand affordability, and we're gonna cut costs while we're doing it," Ford responded. "The problem with Obamacare is that the premiums are going up too fast."
Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski appeared to agree with Ford, nodding to his statement.
"I was disappointed to listen to some Democratic senators last night who all they could say was 'this bill is terrible, it was rotten to the core,'" Ford said. "But we have to recognize there are some challenges here."
Ford said that Democrats should try to be more understanding and bring more to the table than just criticism.
"Democrats ought to offer: 'Should tort reform be a part of this? Can we honestly say where Medicaid has gotten out of control? Is the income better than the age to consider?' This is where we have to go next," Ford said.
"I say to [President Donald Trump], you will not pass tax reform, infrastructure reform, or any of this if you take to attacking Republican senators and for that matter even Democrat senators," Ford said. "You have to figure out how to bring people in."