White House Chief Economic Adviser Gary Cohn had a rough interview on Fox News Sunday as host Chris Wallace kept pressing him on whether or not President Trump would support a health care plan that would take coverage away from millions of people. Republicans are tearing each apart over replacing Obamacare.
Video:
https://youtu.be/_IRLi3aaiCg
Transcript:
CHRIS WALLACE: Will the president support a bill that throws a — millions of Americans off insurance?
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GARY COHN, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR: Well, Chris, you have to remember where we are. We came into office with an insurance plan that doesn’t work. ObamaCare just is not working. You know, in the last year alone, premiums are up 25 percent. In the third of the counties in this country, we have only one insurance provider. Therefore, American citizens don’t have a choice.
We have no choice but to make the plan better for all Americans out there. We will get a score next week. CBO will do what they need to do, we will see what the score is. In fact, in the past, the CBO score has really been meaningless. They’ve said that many more people will be insured that are actually insured. But, look, when we get the CBO score, we’ll deal with that.
WALLACE: But I — to repeat my question, will the president support a plan, if the CBO says that millions of people will lose their health insurance coverage, will the president continue to support that plan?
COHN: But, Chris, it’s not just about coverage, it’s about access to care. It’s about access to be able to see you doctors. The numbers of who’s covered and who is not covered, that’s interesting, and I know that may make some headlines, but what we care about is people’s ability to get health care and people’s ability to go see their doctor. That’s what we care about and that’s what we’re driving for.
WALLACE: But, Gary, coverage is really important if you lose it. And this is not what the president promised during the campaign. Take a look.
Fox News Sunday reminded Republicans that Trump promised universal care, Trumpcare doesn’t provide universal care, and that millions of people will be losing their health care under the Trump supported Obamacare replacement.
When the President’s favorite news network is asking very critical questions about the bill that he is supporting, it is a sign that hostility towards the Obamacare replacement runs deep inside the Republican Party.
It doesn’t matter how many rallies Trump holds, or how many tweets he puts out. If conservative media keeps trashing Trumpcare, it will never pass Congress. Republicans aren’t having a disagreement about strategy. They are at each other’s throats over the first major piece of legislation that the Republican majority Congress and the Republican president are trying to work on together.
The fight to repeal and replace Obamacare shows how little things have changed within the Republican Party.
Republicans remain dysfunctional, and completely incapable of governing.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
