“No Obamacare”: Mike Johnson embarrasses Trump

Trump’s campaign team quickly went into crisis management mode after the release of a video by House Speaker Mike Johnson in which he declares that a major reform of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, would be implemented as soon as Trump became president.

In video recorded at a campaign event in Pennsylvania on Monday, Johnson is seen making it clear that major reform would be on the cards if Republicans under Trump came to power, saying he wanted to tackle the problem with a “blowtorch” by setting fire to the regulatory state.

Johnson went on to say that “massive reform” was needed “to make this work” and that they had “lots of ideas” on how to go about it.

He made it clear that the ACA, or Obamacare, was definitely not part of those plans. “No Obamacare,” he replied when asked by someone in the room if Obamacare was part of this major reform.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, is an American law passed in 2010 to expand access to healthcare. It imposes protections on policyholders, such as banning exclusions for pre-existing conditions, and encourages enrollment in affordable health insurance plans via the trades.

Since its implementation, the ACA has given around 20 million people access to healthcare coverage, thanks in particular to the expansion of Medicaid in certain states.

Many Americans fear losing this protection under a Trump presidency, which had come close to eliminating these guarantees for millions of citizens.

In 2017, Republican Senator John McCain, by voting “no” on the health reform proposal, succeeded in blocking Trump’s maneuver and preserving access to healthcare for millions of Americans.

The outcome could be very different in a new Trump term, with Mike Johnson’s support.