Channeling the thoughts of most Americans, Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu said on Thursday that it’s pretty likely Donald Trump hasn’t even read the Senate GOP’s health care legislation.
The Democrat’s comments come as Trump continues to say – falsely, of course – that Trumpcare doesn’t slash funding for Medicaid, even though the legislation cuts it by nearly $800 billion, according to the latest CBO report.
New CBO score shows @realDonaldTrump is lying again when he says #Trumpcare doesn’t cut Medicaid. I think @POTUS has not read Trumpcare. https://t.co/TotWizZFCh
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 29, 2017
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Contrast the independent CBO report with this fact-free Trump tweet from yesterday, and Lieu’s prediction that the president has not read the GOP repeal legislation becomes increasingly more plausible.
Democrats purposely misstated Medicaid under new Senate bill – actually goes up. pic.twitter.com/necCt4K6UH
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2017
The gap between what Trump says is in the GOP health care bill and what’s actually in it is incredibly wide.
It’s one thing to frame a policy in order to persuade the American people to support it, but the president’s comments about Trumpcare aren’t even in the same universe as the truth.
The probability that Trump hasn’t read the legislation is high for a couple reasons: 1. Trump has admitted that he doesn’t like reading, especially when it comes to something as “complicated” as health care; 2. This is the same guy who can’t comprehend intelligence briefings unless they’re presented in short bullet points and accompanied by cool graphics.
The idea that he thoughtfully read a 142-page piece of legislation that remakes one-sixth of the U.S. economy is a pretty big stretch – and if he has, then he’s blatantly lying about its contents.
Either possibility is troubling.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
