“This Will Mean Death”: Cory Booker Delivers Emotional Takedown Of GOP Health Care Plan

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker appeared on MSNBC to deliver an emotional takedown of the Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which is set to be voted on in the House of Representatives on Thursday.

“Screw the politics,” the Democratic senator told Chris Hayes. “This is about people. This is about what’s morally right.”

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In his emotional plea to members of Congress who are deciding whether to support this piece of legislation, Booker said:

The craven bill that I see coming to a vote tomorrow is just cruel and just wrong. To tens of millions of Americans – Republicans, Democrats, Independents, people who deserve more from a nation this wealthy, this rich – they deserve better. So, screw the politics. This is about people, this is about what’s morally right. …  This is a president who has lied to people … who were promised better health care, more access, something better than the Affordable Care Act. Well, this is clearly not just worse, it’s a death knell. … This will cost American lives if it ever becomes law. This will mean death, pain, and suffering to people’s families. I’m not interested in the politics. This is something that my colleagues, people I respect across the aisle, they just can’t support. For God’s sake, for the sake of our country and what we stand for, they cannot pass this legislation. 

In such polarized political times, it’s often hard to look at issues through a non-political lens, but the issue of health care, as Booker said, is about so much more than politics.

If the Republicans have their way and eventually enact this legislation, tens of millions of Americans will lose their health insurance coverage – forcing them to go without the care they need, often just to survive.

Trumpcare will mean that millions of Americas will have a harder time accessing life-saving prescription drugs or essential health benefits – hospitalization, maternal care, mental health services, and more – that they’ve relied on under the Affordable Care Act.

And, of course, many Americans will once again be forced to live in fear that they won’t get the health insurance coverage they need because of a pre-existing condition.

Republicans are trying to ram a disastrous piece of legislation through Congress in order to score some abstract political victory for their party and the new president. On Thursday, they might achieve that goal.

But in the real world, there will be no winners and the consequences will be deadly.

Sean Colarossi

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.