Mother Jones illustration; Win McNamee/Getty
Former President Donald Trump has “concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. At least that’s what he claimed during his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia tonight. Having access to affordable health care remains a key issue for Americans, according to Pew Research Center.
Moderator Linsey Davis of ABC News asked Trump if he had plans to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, something he vowed and failed to do during his presidency. Recently, Trump walked back this claim, saying he would keep the Affordable Care Act, unless he was able to find a good replacement. Trump, in his response, was very vague, concerning an issue as serious as health care—except he knew Democrats were to blame for any problems.
“Obamacare was lousy. It’s not very good today. And what I said that if we come up with something…we’re going to do it and we’re going to replace it. But remember this, I inherited Obamacare because Democrats wouldn’t change it. They wouldn’t vote for it. They were unanimous. They wouldn’t vote to change it. If they would have done that, we would have had a much better plan than Obama’s.”
Davis followed up, asking if he had a plan in mind to replace it. Trump seemed unable to remember that during his time as president, he had the opportunity to create a new health care program, but was unable to do so. Today, he still can’t seem to provide a coherent answer, saying,
“I have concepts of a plan. I’m not President right now, but if we come up with something, I would only change it if we come up with something that’s better and less expensive. And there are concepts and options we have to do that, and you’ll be hearing about it in the not too distant future.”
