October 6, 2016 | No Comments
Former President Bill Clinton’s statement that the Affordable Care Act is a “crazy system” that has increased health insurance premiums and cut coverage for many was an “extraordinary moment of candor,” according to Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence.
“Well, sometimes with the Clintons, even the truth happens, and Bill Clinton said what millions of Americans have known for years,” Pence said Thursday morning in an interview on Fox News’s “Fox and Friends,” adding that he and Donald Trump are committed to completely repealing the Affordable Care Act.
The remark from the former president, who also called Obamacare “the craziest thing in the world,” was picked up quickly by Trump’s campaign. Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager, joked Wednesday that Clinton had become one of the Manhattan billionaire’s best surrogates and the GOP nominee’s campaign spokesman Jason Miller said “even Democrats like Bill Clinton are coming to realize just what bad public policy Obamacare really is.”
Both Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the White House have defended the controversial healthcare legislation and worked to clean up after the former president’s statement. Bill Clinton himself has sought to clarify that he supports the law and was only acknowledging that it has been imperfect and needs some fixes.
But those statements from Bill Clinton and others with his wife’s campaign have done little to curb the questions about the former president’s “crazy system” quote.
“I think it represents an extraordinary moment of candor but it’s a great contribution to Donald Trump’s message that we’ve got to repeal Obamacare and we’ll do that once he arrives in the oval office,” Pence said.