EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are not promising to repeal nan Affordable Care Act (ACA) arsenic portion of nan Republicans’ argumentation scheme for 2025, nan House GOP leader suggested to Fox News Digital.
"Despite nan dishonest characterizations from nan Harris campaign, nan audio and transcript make clear that I offered nary specified committedness to extremity ObamaCare, and successful truth acknowledged that nan argumentation is ‘deeply ingrained’ successful our wellness attraction system," Johnson told Fox News Digital.
"Still, House Republicans will ever activity to trim nan costs and amended nan value and readiness of wellness attraction for each Americans. Anyone who has been a diligent aliases known a loved 1 who has struggled pinch wellness issues understands why this is truthful important."
It comes amid a barrage of accusations from Democrats that Republicans want to extremity nan ACA, popularly known arsenic ObamaCare.
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Speaker Mike Johnson is responding to nan Harris run for accusing him of wanting to extremity ObamaCare (Getty Images)
"This is not President Trump’s argumentation position," Trump nationalist property caput Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital.
"As President Trump has said, he will make our wellness attraction strategy amended by increasing transparency, promoting prime and competition, and expanding entree to caller affordable wellness attraction and security options."
A spokesperson for Johnson told Fox News Digital connected Wednesday that nan speaker’s position "is successful statement pinch President Trump’s."
Trump himself has not projected a elaborate wellness attraction level for nan 2024 race.
A video of Johnson saying to voters successful Pennsylvania, "Health attraction betterment is going to beryllium a large portion of nan agenda" if Republicans triumph nan White House and Congress, went viral connected Tuesday.
Toward nan extremity of nan clip, shared pinch NBC News, personification tin beryllium heard asking, "No ObamaCare?"
Johnson appeared to repetition nan question, "No ObamaCare?" and past explained, "The ACA is truthful profoundly ingrained, we request monolithic betterment to make this work, and we’ve sewage a batch of ideas connected really to do that."
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Former US President Donald Trump's run said it is not his argumentation position erstwhile asked astir nan Johnson remarks connected NBC News' video (Cornell Watson)
"If you return authorities bureaucrats retired of nan wellness attraction equation, and you person doctor-patient relationships, it's amended for everybody, much efficient, much effective. That's nan free market. Trump is going to beryllium for nan free market," Johnson said. "We want to return a blowtorch to nan regulatory state."
Democrats interpreted Johnson’s remarks arsenic affirming Republicans will extremity ObamaCare and seized connected nan moment.
"Health attraction is connected nan ballot this November. Speaker Mike Johnson is making it clear – if Donald Trump wins, he and his Project 2025 friends successful Congress will make judge location is ‘no ObamaCare.’ That intends higher wellness attraction costs for millions of families and ripping distant protections from Americans pinch preexisting conditions for illustration diabetes, asthma aliases cancer," Harris run spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said Tuesday evening.
That was followed by a akin connection by House Democrats’ run limb connected Wednesday morning.
"Take it from Mike Johnson himself, nan prime earlier voters this predetermination is clear: Democrats who will conflict to little wellness costs and grow entree to affordable wellness attraction aliases Republicans who want to raise nan costs of medicine and contradict wellness security to millions of Americans," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spokesperson Viet Shelton said.
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The precocious Sen. John McCain was 1 of 3 Republican senators who stopped their statement from repealing nan ACA successful 2017. (Alex Wong/Getty Images for Meet nan Press)
Johnson’s spokesperson told Fox News Digital "the characterization of his remarks by nan Harris campaign is mendacious and not substantiated by nan audio."
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"Harris’ desperation now has her lying astir Speaker Johnson," nan spokesperson besides said, adding that nan grounds makes "clear that nan Speaker made nary specified promise."
Republicans tried and grounded to repeal nan ACA during Trump’s first word successful office.
A ballot successful nan then-GOP-controlled Senate successful 2017 grounded erstwhile 3 Republican senators – including, notably, nan precocious Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. – voted pinch Democrats against doing so.
Elizabeth Elkind is simply a authorities newsman for Fox News Digital starring sum of nan House of Representatives. Previous integer bylines seen astatine Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow connected Twitter astatine @liz_elkind and nonstop tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com