Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance claimed Tuesday night — contrary to history — that his running mate, former President Donald Trump, saved Obamacare, the health insurance program Trump tried to kill.
Senator Vance of Ohio during the CBS vice presidential debate against Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz, It echoed Trump’s own recent revisionism. But the lawsuit also served to remind voters that Democrats have finally won a years-long political battle to expand access to health insurance: The Republican ticket no longer wants to repeal the 2010 law.
Vance said Tuesday night that Trump “actually implemented some of these rules when he was president of the United States.” “And I think you can make a really good argument that he saved Obamacare, which was a disaster until Donald Trump came in. I think that’s an important point about President Trump.
“When Obamacare crumbles under the weight of its regulatory burden and health care costs, Donald Trump could destroy the program,” Vance said. “Instead, he worked bipartisanly to ensure Americans have access to affordable care.”
But when Trump became president, repeal was high on his agenda. In a dramatic 2017 Senate vote, Democrats and several Republicans rejected his plan to repeal Obamacare. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., cast the deciding vote, giving a thumbs-down with a theatrical flourish. McCain, a critic of Obamacare, nevertheless concluded that a “skinny repeal” measure would be worse off than leaving Obamacare in place.
Walz recorded the episode on Tuesday night.
Trump would “repeal [Obamacare] If it wasn’t for John McCain’s courage,” Walz said.
Trump is the first to spin his role in pushing for repeal. In this month’s ABC News debate, Trump says he’s “saving” Obamacare.
“Obamacare was bad health care. Always has been. Today is not so good,” he said last month. “When I became president, I had a choice: Can I save it and make it as good as I can?” It will never be great. Or do I let it rot? And politically it would have been better to let it rot and go, although I felt I had an obligation.
But after six years of GOP calls to repeal the law, Trump promised to kill the law “very, very quickly” during the 2016 campaign. When he won the White House, he tried and failed.