Donald Trump Claims That He Never Wanted A Vote To Repeal Obamacare
Donald Trump tweeted on Wednesday that he never intended to have Congress vote on a replacement for Obamacare before the 2020 elections, contradicting his well-publicized push for lawmakers to create and announce a new healthcare plan.
“I was never planning a vote prior to the 2020 Election on the wonderful HealthCare package that some very talented people are now developing for me & the Republican Party. It will be on full display during the Election as a much better & less expensive alternative to ObamaCare,” he posted via Twitter.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, McConnell said that he told Trump to back off of his push to replace Obamacare, saying that the Senate wouldn’t be entertaining the idea prior to the elections in 2020. He called the interaction with Trump a “good conversation.” In a second tweet, Trump denied asking McConnell for a vote. However, the president changed his plan to push for a repeal shortly after speaking with the Senate majority leader on Monday.
“I never asked Mitch McConnell for a vote before the Election as has been incorrectly reported (as usual) in the @nytimes, but only after the Election when we take back the House etc.,” Trump tweeted. “Republicans will always support pre-existing conditions!”
The president publicly backed off of his plan to repeal Obamacare, saying that the divided government was the impetus for his change of heart. He told reporters on Tuesday that he wanted to delay the vote because Republicans don’t have the majority of the House.
President Trump wanted to scrap Obamacare. His party didn't. Here's today's episode of "The Daily." https://t.co/1OxrlXv2uR
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 3, 2019
Previously, he had declared that the GOP would become the party known for health care and criticized Obamacare, saying that it was too expensive and harmful to Americans. He also said that he believed Democrats would push socialized medicine, so Republicans needed to come up with their own solution. On Thursday last week, he announced that legislation was already moving forward in Congress to replace the 2009 Affordable Care Act.
His announcement surprised many lawmakers, who saw the issue as an easy topic for Democrats to win on in the 2020 election. McConnell claimed that he and Trump talked about this factor and decided that a push to repeal Obamacare would be more appropriate for 2021, when, Trump predicted, Republicans would take back the House.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said that the president’s plan was clear, saying that the Republicans were repeating the message that they want to repeal without having a solid plan to replace the ACA.
“They have no health care plan,” he said, according to The New York Times.
