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It’s not exactly a secret that as the 2024 election season unfolds, Democrats would love to have a monthslong fight with Republicans over the future of the Affordable Care Act. With this in mind, it’s awfully generous of Donald Trump to help advance the Democrats’ strategy. The New York Times reported:
Former President Donald J. Trump said in a video posted to his social media site on Thursday that he was “not running to terminate” the Affordable Care Act. ... In a statement similar to one he posted in March, Mr. Trump said the health care law was “much too expensive” and “not very good,” and added, without providing specifics, that he would improve it if re-elected.
Right off the bat, it’s worth emphasizing that President Joe Biden, his campaign team, and Democrats in general have been hammering the presumptive GOP nominee over his “Obamacare” rhetoric, and his latest video statement leaves little doubt: The party’s efforts have clearly gotten Trump’s attention.
What’s more, it’s interesting to see the former president try to take steps to appear less radical as the general election phase comes into sharper focus. Trump doesn’t want to be seen as a candidate eager to “terminate” the Affordable Care Act, just as he also doesn’t want to be seen as a Republican who supports imposing a national abortion at the federal level.
But just as Trump can’t shake his actual record on reproductive rights, his record on the ACA also trails behind him like cans tied to a bumper.
This isn’t at all complicated. During his White House tenure, Trump not only talked about “terminating” the Affordable Care Act, he actually tried to eliminate the health care reform law, seemingly indifferent to the adverse effects it would have on tens of millions of American families.
But even if we’re overly generous and discount everything the former president said and did while in office, there’s also Trump’s record from recent months to consider.
As recently as six months ago, for example, the Republican whined that some GOP senators failed to help him “terminate” the ACA in 2017. “It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!” Trump added.
A month later, the Republican posted a video to his social media platform vowing to “replace” the existing health care system, adding, “We would have had it terminated if were it not for John McCain and a couple of others, but that didn’t happen.”
Trump kept the offensive going in the months that followed.
The former president is now asking voters not to be too concerned about any of this, insisting that after he tears down the United States’ existing system, he’ll replace it with something better, cheaper, and more effective. But for those keeping score, Trump has had nearly a decade to come up with such a plan, and so far, he’s failed spectacularly.
This, in turn, creates an uncomfortable question for voters: Are families willing to vote for a presidential candidate who’s eager to tear down the nation’s health care system and replace it with an alternative he doesn’t want to talk about?
If you’re concerned about your family’s health security, would you really want to take a dramatic risk based on the assurances of an accused felon who has a history of breaking promises?
This post updates our related earlier coverage.