Former President Obama on Thursday said he told President Trump just to rename ObamaCare and take credit for it, instead of repealing it.
“I said to the incoming president, ‘Just change the name and claim that you made these wonderful changes and I would be like, ‘You go,’ ” Obama said while speaking at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Los Angeles, according to CNN.
“Because I didn’t have pride of authorship, I just wanted people to have health care,” the former president added.
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Trump and Republicans attempted to repeal ObamaCare last year but failed to win enough votes in the Senate, which Obama noted in his speech.
Obama said Republicans “couldn’t do it despite controlling all branches of government in Washington.”
“They couldn’t do it because we had actually thought it through and it’s a hard thing to do,” he said, according to CNN.
Democrats are now focusing on using Republican attacks on ObamaCare in the midterm elections.
They point to actions like the GOP repeal of the law’s mandate to have insurance as a factor in driving up premiums for next year.
“The idea that I somehow took on health care just because I thought it was fun or it would somehow burnish my legacy is nuts,” Obama said at the fundraiser. “Because we knew going in, in 2008, that every president since Teddy Roosevelt had failed to do what every other advanced democracy in the world has done.”
Obama also commented on upcoming elections while speaking at the event.
“Do not wait for the perfect message, don’t wait to feel a tingle in your spine because you’re expecting politicians to be so inspiring and poetic and moving that somehow, ‘OK, I’ll get off my couch after all and go spend the 15-20 minutes it takes for me to vote,’” Obama said.