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Trump’s Vow to ‘Fix’ Obamacare is Just More Empty Trump-ing

Opinion: He said he'll ratify President Barack Obama’s signature legislation. But it’s all smoke and mirrors.

We all know “that dude.”

 You know…the one who fails at almost everything he attempts and, as a result, wants to either take credit for what you did or simply s--- on it publicly to gain unmerited attention.

“That dude” is the embodiment of the Orange Marauder himself -- y’all’s former president, Donald John Trump.

Trump’s latest bout of foolishness started when he read (“read?”) a Wall Street Journal piece on the Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare. He hopped on his social media site Truth Social (do you know any subscribers?) to write that he was “seriously looking at alternatives” for Obamacare, pointing out the embarrassment of Republicans’ exhaustive (and exhausting) failure in their attempts to overturn it.

His public declaration to replace it with “much better healthcare” has gotten Republican panties in a nice bunch, since everyone else in the party seems to acknowledge the “L” they took trying to crush it in 2017 and aren’t stoked at the idea of their putative front-runner for the 2024 presidential election bringing it back up.

Of course, President Joe Biden and his campaign took the opportunity to remind the world that he’s still alive and with a pulse by capitalizing on Trump’s comments and releasing ads defending Obamacare. It was just the jolt of energy the incumbent candidate needed.

Truth is, the Affordable Care Act is the most meaningful piece of health care legislation since Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 and is generally considered to be Obama’s signature legislation for a reason. It’s not perfect (no legislation is), but considering the insidious healthcare machine it sought to amend, it has accomplished a great deal in the last six years: Among other things, it provided about 20 million Americans insurance and removed roadblocks for people with pre-existing conditions.

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Mistaken For Trump Prosecutor Fani Willis and Verbally Attacked

While we’re on the topic, though, why not compare the accomplishments of Trump’s and Obama’s time in office?

Eight years of the former’s presidency brought meaningful social and policy changes that the country continues to benefit from years later: On top of the ACA, there’s blowing Osama Bin Laden out the box, overseeing historical movements for the LGBTQ community – including the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and spearheading the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the Defense of Marriage Act – and signing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

In stark contrast, Trump sowed seeds of division and hatred, and is probably known more for what he lied about or what he did to weaken the country (remember his promise to bring coal jobs back?).

He cultivated an environment in which white incels felt comfortable taking up tiki torches for a nakedly racist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and likely encouraged the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021 – perhaps in a litigious manner. The last man we needed in office during the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic was someone who got all his information from Drudge Report.

Indeed, Trump had four fewer years in office than Obama, but he didn’t seem to accomplish anything within spitting distance of Obamacare. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, arguably Trump’s crown jewel, benefited the country’s top earners in lieu of the middle class which could actually benefit from tax cuts; his plan to replace it when it expires in 2025 is a huge 10 percent tariff on goods imported into the country.

So, instead of taxing his billionaire homies as he should, he’s more willing to start a global trade conflagration.

But even that comes off as more of the Trump bluster that he leveraged to coast into office in 2016. I could list all the bulls--t he’s fed us that never came pass, but others have done it already.  There’s no reason to believe that he’ll do anything with Obamacare, or that he’ll give you anything outside of another four years of hot dog water – if he manages to stay out of prison. (Jesus be a Fani Willis.)

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Dustin J. Seibert is an opinion writer and native Detroiter living in Chicago and Miami. He loves his mama slightly more than he loves music and exercises every day so his French fry intake doesn’t catch up to him. Find him on Instagram and the erstwhile Twitter: @Justice2K.

 

 

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