Health Care

Obama: I haven’t smoked since ObamaCare passed

President Obama says in a new interview that he has not smoked a cigarette since healthcare reform passed in 2010. 

{mosads}In an interview with GQ, Obama was asked how many cigarettes he has smoked since he became president. 

“Zero in the last five years,” Obama replied. “I made a promise that once health care passed, I would never have a cigarette again. And I have not.”

Obama said at a press conference in 2009, before healthcare reform passed, that he struggled with smoking. 

“As a former smoker, I constantly struggle with it,” he said. “Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No.”

In June, there was a speculation about a photo of the president where he was holding something that could have been a pack of cigarettes while talking to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. 

The White House later said that he was not holding cigarettes.