Trump Vows To Repeal Obamacare Again Despite Not Having Done So During Four Years In White House

In a renewed effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Donald Trump announced on his social media platform Truth Social, “Obamacare is too expensive, and otherwise, not good healthcare.”

The front-runner for next year’s GOP presidential nomination continued, “I will come up with a much better, and less expensive, alternative! People will be happy, not sad!”

He followed up, “I don’t want to terminate Obamacare, I want to REPLACE IT with MUCH BETTER HEALTHCARE.”

Trump’s commitment to dismantling President Obama’s signature legislation was once a popular policy among Republican voters. However, the ACA has gained significant support nationwide, with 60% of Americans in favor of the healthcare law.

Despite numerous unsuccessful attempts to “repeal and replace” the ACA in Congress, as well as repeated defeats in court battles, Republicans have largely shifted their attention to other issues such as the economy and crime.

Trump’s recent revival of his criticism of the healthcare law caught many GOP lawmakers off guard. However, these lawmakers made it clear that the prospects of a quality alternative to the ACA were highly unlikely.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) stated, “Whether we can build a political consensus for something else or not remains to be seen.”

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), the ranking Republican on the Senate Health Committee, expressed skepticism about the feasibility of a viable alternative to the ACA.

The popularity and support for the ACA among the American public, combined with the challenges faced by Republicans to formulate an alternative, suggest that the focus on healthcare reform may now be shifted towards improvement and expansion of the existing healthcare system rather than seeking to dismantle it entirely.

Former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden have joined forces to safeguard and uphold ACA. In a video posted to X earlier this month, Obama assured the public, “Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, Bidencare, whatever you call it. Yes, it’s still a thing… The other side has been trying to repeal it every year since it’s existed. But we’ll keep fighting to protect it.”