Rising Democratic candidate and mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, said on Tuesday that he is “mystified” by Donald Trump’s decision to try – once again – to take health care away from millions of Americans.

In an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, Buttigieg laughed off the president’s prediction that the GOP will soon become the “party of healthcare.”

“I’m mystified that the president thinks this will help them become the party of health care,” the mayor said. “I don’t know how you can become the party of health care when you’re now making it abundantly clear that your position on health care is to take it away from millions of Americans.”

Video:

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

Buttigieg said:

As a matter of policy, I’m not surprised because this seems to be the position they hold deep down. Just take this health care coverage away from millions of Americans. As a matter of political strategy, I’m a little bit surprised because most Americans want this and so at this moment when they were going to take a victory lap around what was happening in Washington, suddenly they’re reminding us why so many of us are Democrats. One thing I’ve been thinking about is the amazing shift between 2010, when I was a young nominee for state treasurer and watching as a Democrat on the ticket how we were getting absolutely beat up. I mean health care and the ACA was a toxic issue for the Democrats. And then by 2018, it was the winning issue for Democrats. What happened in those years? Well, it’s very simple. The bill was actually implemented and people liked it. Back in 2010, they were talking about all these theoretical things that might be like death panels. By 2018, in the town halls that happened then, you had regular Americans getting in the faces of members of Congress saying this is what this bill has done to make my life better. And it turns out it’s just harder to lie to somebody about their everyday life. So the idea that they would want to do this is a little strange to me politically. But again, this is their policy. They call themselves — I’m mystified that the president thinks this will help them become the party of health care. I don’t know how you can become the party of health care when you’re now making it abundantly clear that your position on health care is to take it away from millions of Americans.

Trump is handing Democrats a giant gift

While much of the media attention has been fixed on the Attorney General William Barr’s cherry-picked summary of Robert Mueller’s report – which still hasn’t been released to the public – Trump seems to have forgotten that health care is the issue that fueled the blue wave in 2018.

Not to mention, as CNN’s Harry Enten pointed out on Tuesday, Trump’s approval rating hit its lowest point during his presidency when he and Republican lawmakers were trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

In making another effort to take health care coverage away from millions of Americans, Trump is guaranteeing that Republicans will never become the party of health care – and he is handing Democrats a giant gift ahead of the 2020 election.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter

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.