Trump Promises To Kick 23 Million Americans Off Health Insurance In The Middle Of A Pandemic

In the middle of dueling crises – a global pandemic and economic collapse – Donald Trump pledged that he would continue his crusade to kick 23 million Americans off their health insurance plans.

In a pair of tweets, Trump bragged about his administration’s renewed push to have the Supreme Court strike down the Affordable Care Act.

“[M]any States & the U.S. are asking the Supreme Court that Obamacare itself be terminated so that it can be replaced with a FAR BETTER AND MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE ALTERNATIVE,” the president said, not offering any plan of his own to replace President Barack Obama’s signature achievement.

“Obamacare is a joke!” he added.

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Typing in all caps doesn’t make it any less of a lie

At two points during the president’s healthcare ramble on Saturday, Trump used all caps. Both of those instances also happened to be the biggest lies of his two-part tweet.

First, Donald Trump doesn’t have a “far better and much less expensive alternative” to the Affordable Care. This is a man who doesn’t know the first thing about health policy, let alone developing a plan that would achieve the same level of coverage that Obamacare did.

In other words, if the Trump administration gets what it wants and the ACA is struck down 10 years after it was signed into law, there would be nothing to replace it. It would upend the lives of millions of Americans.

Second, the president’s claim that he “will always protect people with pre-existing conditions” is a blatant lie, no matter how many exclamation points he pairs it with.

As the Center for American Progress points out, not only would 23 million people lose coverage if Obamacare is dismantled, but protections for Americans with preexisting conditions would also be eliminated.

In 2018, health care was the number one issue for voters, and Democrats won historic gains all across the country. Donald Trump’s push to revive this issue in 2020 isn’t just bad policy, it’s political suicide.

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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.