Watch: Mike Johnson Scrambles to Deny His Comments on Health Care
House Speaker Mike Johnson promised to take away your health care. Now he’s trying to pretend that he didn’t say just that. “They took a clip out of context and said that I said we were promising to repeal Obamacare,” Johnson told Fox Business on Thursday morning. “That’s just not what I said, it’s actually the opposite of that.”Mike Johnson now claims he didn't say what he said: "They took a clip out of context." (The clip is not out of context. Watch it below.) https://t.co/mcShYWSj6G pic.twitter.com/y6YUe52jdq— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 31, 2024But on Monday, Johnson shared his message clearly to a crowd in Pennsylvania: “No Obamacare.”Johnson was speaking about health care reform on the campaign trail on behalf of Donald Trump. The House speaker promised that if Trump is elected, the Republicans will undertake a “massive reform” of the Affordable Care Act in their first 100 days. “No Obamacare?” asked a voter. Johnson confirmed the request, laughing, and followed up by declaring that “the ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work, and we’ve got a lot of ideas on how to do that.“We want to take a blowtorch to the regulatory state,” Johnson said, threatening to strip health care for nearly 50 million Americans currently covered by the ACA and suggesting that “health care is just one of [the] sectors” that needs major cuts, echoing Trump’s and Elon Musk’s calls to slash $2 trillion from the government’s budget—no matter the impact on everyday Americans. CNN: New footage has just emerged of Mike Johnson saying he and Trump will try to repeal the Affordable Care Act if he wins, which would rip away health care from millions pic.twitter.com/YMi1vaZLsz— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 30, 2024Now Johnson is accusing Democrats of putting words in his mouth. “They’re twisting our words,” he told Fox on Thursday. Trump famously said he only had “concepts of a plan” when it came to replacing Obamacare. But even those concepts are frightening: His running mate, JD Vance, has said the current plan coming out of a potential second Republican administration would allow health insurance companies to charge more for preexisting conditions.“Speaker Mike Johnson is making it clear—if Donald Trump wins, he and his Project 2025 allies in Congress will make sure there is ‘no Obamacare,’” a spokeswoman for Kamala Harris’s campaign told The New York Times. “That means higher health care costs for millions of families and ripping away protections from Americans with preexisting conditions like diabetes, asthma, or cancer.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson promised to take away your health care. Now he’s trying to pretend that he didn’t say just that.
“They took a clip out of context and said that I said we were promising to repeal Obamacare,” Johnson told Fox Business on Thursday morning. “That’s just not what I said, it’s actually the opposite of that.”
Mike Johnson now claims he didn't say what he said: "They took a clip out of context."
(The clip is not out of context. Watch it below.) https://t.co/mcShYWSj6G pic.twitter.com/y6YUe52jdq— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 31, 2024
But on Monday, Johnson shared his message clearly to a crowd in Pennsylvania: “No Obamacare.”
Johnson was speaking about health care reform on the campaign trail on behalf of Donald Trump. The House speaker promised that if Trump is elected, the Republicans will undertake a “massive reform” of the Affordable Care Act in their first 100 days.
“No Obamacare?” asked a voter. Johnson confirmed the request, laughing, and followed up by declaring that “the ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work, and we’ve got a lot of ideas on how to do that.
“We want to take a blowtorch to the regulatory state,” Johnson said, threatening to strip health care for nearly 50 million Americans currently covered by the ACA and suggesting that “health care is just one of [the] sectors” that needs major cuts, echoing Trump’s and Elon Musk’s calls to slash $2 trillion from the government’s budget—no matter the impact on everyday Americans.
CNN: New footage has just emerged of Mike Johnson saying he and Trump will try to repeal the Affordable Care Act if he wins, which would rip away health care from millions pic.twitter.com/YMi1vaZLsz— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 30, 2024
Now Johnson is accusing Democrats of putting words in his mouth. “They’re twisting our words,” he told Fox on Thursday.
Trump famously said he only had “concepts of a plan” when it came to replacing Obamacare. But even those concepts are frightening: His running mate, JD Vance, has said the current plan coming out of a potential second Republican administration would allow health insurance companies to charge more for preexisting conditions.
“Speaker Mike Johnson is making it clear—if Donald Trump wins, he and his Project 2025 allies in Congress will make sure there is ‘no Obamacare,’” a spokeswoman for Kamala Harris’s campaign told The New York Times. “That means higher health care costs for millions of families and ripping away protections from Americans with preexisting conditions like diabetes, asthma, or cancer.”
