Washington, D.C. – Last night, Donald Trump made it clear he knows how deeply unpopular his health care agenda is with the American people. He continued to lie about his record and hope Americans believe his outrageous lies like how he “saved” the Affordable Care Act (ACA). what a joke. At the same time, he also promised to “replace” the ACA and said he has “concepts of a plan,” despite promising to unveil his plan for over six years.
But we know his real plan: repeal and sabotage the ACA and Inflation Reduction Act, slash Medicaid and Medicare funding, take away protections for pre-existing conditions, raise prescription drug and premium costs, and strip away health care from millions of Americans. Trump is a proven liar who will say anything to regain power. No matter what comes out of his mouth, Trump’s record on health care stays the same.
HEADLINES
NPR: NPR Fact Checked The Harris-Trump Presidential Debate. Here’s What We Found. “During his presidency, Trump undermined the Affordable Care Act in many ways… And rather than deciding to ‘save’ the ACA, he tried hard to get Congress to repeal it, and failed.” [NPR, 9/11/24]
STAT: Trump Admits He Still Doesn’t Have An Affordable Care Act Replacement Plan. “Despite an embarrassing defeat in 2017 for Trump’s effort to repeal and replace the health care law, Trump just can’t seem to let the prospect go — even though many in his party have dropped their attacks on the Affordable Care Act as it’s become more popular… ” [STAT, 9/11/24]
Huffpost: Trump Served Up Revisionist History On Obamacare During Debate. “Donald Trump spent the 2016 presidential campaign promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act… Now he wants you to believe he is responsible for saving the law… ” [Huffpost, 9/11/24]
The New York Times: Debate Fact Checked: Harris And Trump On The Economy, Immigration And Abortion. “Trump did not “save” the health insurance law known as Obamacare; the United States Senate did, in defiance of him.” [NYT, 9/10/24]
The New York Times: Harris Dominates as Trump Gets Defensive: 6 Takeaways From the Debate. “Mr. Trump, 78, sounded his age as he tried to articulate his position on in vitro fertilization: ‘I have been a leader on fertilization,’ he declared. Ms. Harris, 59, had laced into Mr. Trump. She called his position on abortion ‘insulting to the women of America’ and said she had met women across the country whose health and lives had been endangered by abortion restrictions.” [NYT, 9/11/24]
The Wall Street Journal: Trump Vague On His Plans For Obamacare. “Donald Trump didn’t commit to replacing Obamacare and declined to outline a plan for an alternative to the program… Asked if he had a replacement plan, Trump said, ‘I have concepts of a plan. I’m not president right now.’” [The Wall Street Journal, 9/11/24]
Mother Jones: After A Decade, Donald Trump’s Health Care Plan Still In “Concept” Phase. “Trump walked back this claim, saying he would keep the Affordable Care Act, unless he was able to find a good replacement. Trump, in his response, was very vague, concerning an issue as serious as health care—except he knew Democrats were to blame for any problems.” [Mother Jones, 9/11/24]
The Hill: Trump On Obamacare Repeal: ‘I Have Concepts Of A Plan.’ “Trump has railed against the health care law since his first presidential campaign… Most Republicans in Congress have said they’re not interested in trying to repeal the law again…” [The Hill, 9/10/24]
Fast Company: Trump Has Attached Obamacare Relentlessly – And Millions More Americans Were Uninsured During His Presidency. “During his presidency, Trump sought to undermine the Affordable Care Act (ACA)… This election cycle, Trump has shifted away from his 2016 pledges to eliminate the ACA but has yet to offer clear alternative policies.” [Fast Company, 9/11/24]
TV HITS
Charlie Dent, Former US Representative: “Trump has no concept of health care policy. He would always say, ‘we’re gonna cover everybody,’ ‘it’s gonna cost less,’ and ‘it’ll be beautiful.’ There was never any policy to back it up. He just didn’t care about its impact on people, sadly.” [CNN, 9/11/24]
David Plouffe, Senior Advisor to Kamala Harris’ 2024 Presidential Campaign: “We waited 11 years for his health care plan – we’ve never seen it, we never will. His only plan is to kick tens of millions of people of health care. … I think those are three key moments that we’ll see a lot about in the coming days and weeks.” [CNN, 9/11/24]
SOCIAL MEDIA
Rich McLeod: “Trump’s health care plan:” [X, 9/10/24]
Planned Parenthood Action: “That’s not how abortion works, Donald. This is the man who wants to control your health care access and he never fails to lie about abortion and reproductive health care. Almost like he’s seriously unqualified.” [X, 9/10/24]
Jon Favreau, Pod Save America: “‘I have concepts of a plan’ – Trump on health care (and basically everything).” [X, 9/10/24]
Chris Geidner, Law Dork: “‘I have concepts of a plan.’ – Donald Trump, on healthcare, running for president for a third time.” [X, 9/10/24]
Sahil Kapur, NBC Senior National Political Reporter: “Under-appreciated debate moment: Trump reviving his calls to repeal/replace ACA. Republicans have been trying to walk away from this. Trump himself has been downplaying it all year. Now he says he’s ‘working on things’ and ‘we’re going to replace it.’ ‘I have concepts of a plan.’” [X, 9/11/24]
Mike Nellis, Former Senior Adviser to Kamala Harris: “Trump has been running for president for 12 years and he’s never once had a health care plan. He can sit this one out. What a clown.” [X, 9/10/24]
Shannon Watts, Founder Emerita, Moms Demand Action: “‘I have concepts about a plan. I’m not the President. You’ll be hearing about it in the not too distant future,’ Donald Trump on why he doesn’t have a healthcare policy even though he was President for four years and has been running for two. #debate2024” [X, 9/10,24]