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The article didn’t generate much in the way of political chatter, but Politico reported earlier this week that President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is eager to go after Donald Trump on health care.
The president’s reelection team is rolling out new messaging that accuses the GOP frontrunner of harboring a “vendetta” against popular policies that have expanded health coverage, according to details first shared with POLITICO. The push will emphasize Trump’s vow to try again to repeal the Affordable Care Act if elected, a move that would put insurance for millions at risk and dovetail with Republican support for restricting abortion and eliminating caps on prescription drug costs.
A day later, the Democratic incumbent delivered a fierce State of the Union address and made a fresh effort to move the ACA into the political spotlight:
“Folks, the Affordable Care Act, the old Obamacare, is still a very big deal. Over 100 million of you can no longer be denied health insurance because of pre-existing conditions. But my predecessor, and many in this chamber, want to take those prescription drugs away by repealing the Affordable Care Act. I am not going to let that happen.”
Referencing the literally dozens of times congressional Republicans voted to repeal the ACA , Biden added, “We stopped you 50 times before and we will stop you again. In fact, I am not only protecting it, I am expanding it.”
One of the benefits of this messaging is that the White House really does have a compelling story to tell about a kitchen-table issue affecting families nationwide. Indeed, for proponents of the Affordable Care Act, all of the recent news surrounding the reform law and the system it helped create has been encouraging: The ACA is working well, it’s about as popular as it’s ever been, and the latest enrollment data was amazing.
Just as notable from an electoral perspective is the degree to which Donald Trump helped open this door. The former president, who largely ignored the ACA after leaving the White House, has repeatedly targeted Obamacare in increasingly explicit terms, and as recently as December, the Republican posted a video to his social media platform attacking the late Sen. John McCain for not helping him “terminate” the ACA in 2017.
Trump soon after vowed to tear down the nation’s existing health care system and replace it with something he said would be “better” — though his assurances didn’t include any details.
What’s more, as we’ve discussed, some congressional Republicans are adding their voices to this debate. Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told Axios in late November, “I think Obamacare has been one of the biggest deceptions on the American people. I mean just look at your health care premiums.” (Premium costs, in reality, have gone down, not up.)
The same report added that Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, who’d likely chair the Senate Finance Committee if the GOP retakes control of the chamber, also said he’s open to repeal-and-replace plans.
Remember, the Republicans’ 2017 effort to tear down the ACA was a disaster for the party, which Democrats exploited to help take back the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections. Democrats would love little more than to have this fight again in 2024 — a recent national survey from NBC News found the party with a 23-point advantage over the GOP on health care — which brought Biden’s SOTU motivations into sharp relief.
Is it any wonder the president wants everyone to know the Affordable Care Act is “still a very big deal”?
To be sure, presidents don’t generally have the power to simply pick which issues people will care about. Biden might want to talk about health care, but if Republicans and the rest of the political world focus attention elsewhere, it will create a messaging challenge.
But there’s ample reason to believe the president will nevertheless be reminding voters that their health security would be at risk if Trump and his party succeed in the 2024 elections.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.