Pelosi calls Trump’s Obamacare revival a ‘bad political move’ for the GOP

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Tuesday called former President Donald Trump’s decision to make repealing and replacing Obamacare a topic in the 2024 election a “bad political move” that Democrats would take full advantage of.

Pelosi made the comments on a call with reporters organized by the Biden-Harris campaign in response to the former president saying over the weekend that he is “seriously looking at alternatives” to the 13-year-old Affordable Care Act. Democrats have been quick to rebuke Trump’s comments, indicating their eagerness to make healthcare access a top campaign topic.

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“There are so many reasons why this was a bad political move on the part of Trump, except he doesn’t share the value of the health and financial well-being of the American people,” Pelosi said. “And for that reason, he has offered an opportunity for the greatest contrast, which the public understands more clearly than any other issue.”

She continued, “The former president has given people an opportunity to understand more clearly what it means to them.”

Pelosi went on to explain that healthcare is more effective than other topics when it comes to driving voters to the polls. “Healthcare is universal. It is in everybody’s financial and health interest. … When you say we’re going to take this away, it has a completely different effect.”

“So this is part of an anti-government attitude that they have, but people have to know about it,” the former House speaker said. “We don’t want to be fear mongers, but we have to make a contrast, and we have to have clarity about it. This is what it means to you. This is an assault, on you, your health, your financial security, and the health of America. It’s not just about healthcare. It’s about a healthier country.”

Political watchers have predicted that abortion access and the economy will be top concerns for voters in the 2024 election. Democrats are expected to welcome healthcare access being added to that list given how successfully they’ve campaigned on it in the past.

Much of the party’s 2018 messaging, which helped Democrats retake the House of Representatives, was centered on the GOP’s failed campaign to repeal Obamacare. Trump called the 2017 effort failing “a low point for the Republican Party,” which he blamed on “a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it, and then raised their hands not to terminate it.”

Obamacare boasts relatively high approval ratings nationally despite many of the 40 million Americans insured through the program experiencing premium increases in recent years.

Pelosi is far from the only member of her party who has jumped to react to Trump’s latest Obamacare effort. President Joe Biden condemned the renewed push on Monday, saying his predecessor had “called for cuts that could rip away health insurance for tens of millions Americans and Medicaid. They just don’t give up. But guess what? We won’t let these things happen.”

Biden’s 2024 campaign, meanwhile, has responded to the news by working to amplify Trump’s new message, with TV ads set to air this coming week contrasting the president’s and his predecessor’s respective healthcare agendas.

Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), who leads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, told the Washington Examiner on Monday evening that Republicans are “going to continue to fail” if they were to press onward with another repeal effort.

“If [Trump] wants to talk about that, he’s going to fail,” Peters said of an Obamacare repeal. “It’s a winning issue for us. We’ll take it any day.”

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Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) laughed when asked by the Washington Examiner about the comments in the Capitol on Monday.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” replied Kaine, the Democrats’ 2016 vice presidential nominee. “Next he’s going to say it’s going to be infrastructure week every week he’s president.”