Biden on GOP health-care claims: They’re either ‘really stupid’ or ‘not telling the truth’

Former Vice President Joe Biden says that Republicans who supported the GOP-led effort to repeal ObamaCare yet run for office on their support for protecting health care are “not telling the truth” to the American people.

During a campaign event in Illinois for Lauren Underwood, a Democrat running against Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.), Biden reportedly accused Republican incumbents of running on support for protections for Americans with pre-existing health conditions despite voting for the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the GOP replacement for ObamaCare that failed to pass Congress last year.

{mosads}”They’re either not telling the truth or they’re really stupid,” Biden said, according to Politico. “Because there’s no way you can afford to cover pre-existing conditions without everybody being in on the deal.”

“There’s so, so much at stake here,” he added, referring to reported Republican plans to cut spending on programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. “But the truth is we have such an enormous opportunity.” 

The Congressional Budget Office last year found that many Americans with pre-existing conditions could be priced out of affordable afford health care under the AHCA.

Democrats have focused their attacks on Republicans around health care as next week’s midterm elections inch closer. Republicans have sought to counter those arguments, with dozens of House Republicans endorsing protections for pre-existing conditions in the final weeks of the campaign cycle.

President Trump tweeted earlier this month that “all Republicans support people with pre-existing conditions.”

The GOP holds a 23-seat advantage in the House and a 2-seat advantage in the Senate, while a generic House ballot poll released Wednesday suggests that likely voters would prefer Democrats retake the House next week by a 5-point margin.