Bill Clinton Changes Tune After Calling ObamaCare 'Crazy'

He says he supported it, but there are gaps
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 5, 2016 4:56 AM CDT
Bill Clinton Walks Back ObamaCare Comments
Former President Bill Clinton speaks Monday, Oct. 3, 2016 at Northbank Center in downtown Flint, Mich.   (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP)

Bill Clinton seems to have belatedly realized that calling ObamaCare a "crazy system" isn't going to help his wife's campaign. He chose his words more carefully on the campaign trail Tuesday after a backlash to his remarks on Monday, when he told an audience in Flint, Mich.: "You've got this crazy system where all the sudden 25 million more people have health care and then the people are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half," the AP reports. He stressed at a rally in Steubenville, Ohio, on Tuesday that he supported ObamaCare, but there are still gaps in coverage that "must be fixed."

"Look, the Affordable Health Care Act did a world of good, and the 50-something efforts to repeal it that the Republicans have staged were a terrible mistake," Clinton said at an event in Athens, Ohio, per NBC News. "We for the first time in our history at least are providing insurance to more than 90% of our people." But Republicans didn't let go of the earlier comments: Donald Trump thanked Clinton for telling "the truth about ObamaCare," and Mike Pence brought up the remarks at Tuesday night's vice presidential debate, saying Tim Kaine and Hillary Clinton want "more of the same," despite the fact that "even President Bill Clinton calls ObamaCare a crazy plan," Fox News reports. (More Bill Clinton stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X