Given that Trump has told over 10,000 lies since January 2017, it has become difficult to distinguish which ones are the most blatant. But during his interview with Chuck Todd, he told one that is absolutely mind-boggling.
I could have managed Obamacare so it would have failed or I could have managed it the way we did so it’s as good as it can be. Not great, but it’s as good — it’s too expensive and the premiums are too high. I had a decision to make. I could have politically killed Obamacare. I decided not to do it.
Say what?!
This is the guy who didn’t merely champion Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare, he celebrated on Twitter when a federal judge ruled that Obamacare was unconstitutional, saying that it was “great news for America.” He went on to direct his Department of Justice to write a letter of support for that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
In the midst of all of that, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has been tracking all of the ways that the Trump administration has tried to undermine Obamacare, ensuring that it is more expensive, covers fewer people, and provides less comprehensive coverage. So far, they’ve documented 60 attempts to do so, beginning on the day Trump was inaugurated.
In other words, the president did everything in his power to kill Obamacare and, when that became impossible, he has done everything he can to undermine it. Now he tells us that he’s managed it so that “it’s as good as it can be.” There really is no limit to the depths to which Trump will descend when it comes to lies.
There is, however, an interesting take on this particular lie. Somewhere in the recesses of his brain, the president knows he’s in trouble when it comes to being re-elected. The stakes are high because once he’s out of office, he will probably face criminal charges that could result in prison time. Trump also knows that one of the reasons he’s lost political support is because of his attempts to kill Obamacare. So rather than backtrack or come up with ways to improve health care accessibility, he simply lies. Obviously, he’s delusional enough to think that he can get away with that kind of crap. Can he?
