“Senate Republicans who claim this was never about gutting healthcare are lying to you and Donald Trump just proved it.”
Thursday, October 22
Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s nominee for associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, listens as Trump speaks during an announcement ceremony at the White House on September 26, 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Chen Mengtong/China News Service via Getty Images) After Senate Republicans spent several days of hearings last week insisting that they’re not expecting the Supreme Court to strike down the Affordable Care Act if Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed, President Donald Trump on Thursday undercut his party’s messaging efforts by releasing a clip of his “60 Minutes” interview in which he clearly expresses his desire for the high court to invalidate the healthcare law.
“Senate Republicans who claim this was never about gutting healthcare are lying to you and Donald Trump just proved it,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in response to the president’s comments, which were publicized just hours after Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee paved the way for a full Senate vote on Barrett’s confirmation early next week.
“Do not let him get away with it,” Sanders added. “We will vote in massive numbers and not only defeat him, but defeat him very badly.”
Watch Trump’s comments:
"I hope that they end it. It'll be so good if they end it." — here's Trump saying he hopes SCOTUS strikes down the ACA during a pandemic pic.twitter.com/1bTonnA2YJ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 22, 2020
“Look at that, Trump says the quiet part out loud. Really loud,” tweeted Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). “Senate Republicans, care to comment?”
The president posted the footage of his Tuesday interview with Lesley Stahl of CBS News—in violation of his agreement with the network—after complaining that Stahl was “biased” against him. Trump left the interview without participating in the traditional “walk-and-talk” segment and fired off an angry tweet threatening to release the clip.
Watch the 37-minute video Trump posted to his Facebook page:
During his comments on the ACA, Trump said he has a “fully developed” healthcare plan that is “going to be announced very soon”—a promise the president and members of his administration have made for months without following through.
“Once again, Donald Trump showed us that his only healthcare plan is his lawsuit, which would take away Americans’ healthcare in the middle of an ever-worsening pandemic, one week after Election Day,” tweeted advocacy group Protect Our Care, referring to a suit led by Republican attorneys general and backed by the Trump White House.
Potentially with the addition of Barrett—who has criticized past decisions upholding the ACA—the Supreme Court is set to begin hearing arguments in the case on November 10.
This article published by Common Dreams on October 22, 2020, here…
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