For Donald Trump, all the old grievances are resurfacing as he seeks another term as president.
And nothing irritates him more than Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law by former President Barack Obama in 2010 and bears his name. mercilessly mocked Trump’s political ambitions in 2011.
In the former real estate developer’s mind, President Obama is still living rent-free, and Trump has repeatedly mentioned him at campaign rallies while seeking to criticize President Joe Biden, who has been the country’s de facto president since defeating Trump in 2020 and taking office in 2021.
Of course, Trump has been Spreading racist lies America’s only black president was not actually born in this country, something Biden is reminding voters. Radio ad for new campaign It will be broadcast on radio stations with large black audiences in battleground states.
Obamacare was and still is a symbol of everything Trump really cares about: branding and revenge, and everything that infuriates him: neglect and defeat.
President Trump knows Obamacare is becoming more popular.
Trump faces a familiar set of related problems in his efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare: The program is hugely popular with non-Republican voters, meaning his renewed push to repeal the law would only resonate with his existing base at a time when leading Republican candidates are trying to broaden their coalitions with Democrats and independents.
a Poll released by KFF on May 15thThe nonpartisan health policy nonprofit formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 62% of registered voters have a favorable view of Obamacare, while 37% have an unfavorable view.
Breaking it Losing at a party While 90% of registered Democrats and 62% of independents support Obamacare, 68% of Republicans oppose it.
What’s wrong with President Trump’s COVID vaccine:Trump needs to reject the COVID vaccine to alienate voters from RFK Jr. and his anti-vaccination forces
Obamacare is Popular with all age groups While his approval rating among voters overall is low, younger voters tend to have a more favorable view of him. By age group, the figures are 70% for those aged 18-29, 62% for those aged 65 and over, 60% for those aged 30-49, and 58% for those aged 50-64.
Women make up 65% A little more likely 60% of men support Obamacare.
and it is Popular across all races84% of black respondents, 71% of Hispanics and 55% of white Americans supported it.
Trump continues to complain about Republicans’ failure to repeal Obamacare, but offers no solutions.
Trump renewed his attacks on Obamacare long before he crushed the Republican challenger in the presidential primaries, airing his complaints on social media. Truth Social in November During his presidency in 2017, some Senate Republicans rebelled against his efforts to repeal the program.
It involves The late Senator John McCainArizona Republicans who had low opinions of TrumpOr Obamacare.).
Trump too He mocked Obamacare at a December rally. Speaking in Reno, Nevada, he called it a “catastrophe for the American family,” accused McCain of stonewalling him and called the 2017 vote a “bad day.”
Trump I joined Truth Social last month.Trump posted a video in which he accused Biden of being false, claiming he was “not running to repeal” Obamacare, and instead wanted to make the program “much better, much stronger and much cheaper.”
The video was heavy on political attacks and light on key details — consistent with Trump’s “repeal and replace” approach to Obamacare — and focused exclusively on the “repeal” without explaining what it would be “replaced” with.
Trump is trying to frame Obamacare as part of illegal immigration.
President Trump’s latest attacks on Obamacare have taken a less than subtle approach, attempting to combine it with irrational rhetoric about immigration and the crisis along the southern US border.
On May 3, Biden announced that he would allow entry to about 100,000 people enrolled in the Deferred Action for Deportation program for young immigrants. Apply for ObamacareThe DACA program, launched in 2012 under President Obama, targets “Dreamers” who were brought to the United States illegally under the age of 16.
People who participate in the program, many of whom are Latino, must be enrolled in school, have graduated from high school or earned a GED, and must not have been convicted of a felony or committed more than three misdemeanors. The purpose of DACA has always been to give people who don’t have the option to live in the U.S. and live productive lives.
Trump tried to bait Biden with opening up Obamacare to Dreamers May 3rd Election Statement He suggested it would be seen as a “handout to illegal immigrants” and would be unfair to black and Hispanic voters.
Trump attacks the election:Trump again appealed to the “integrity of the election,” the same tactic he used in 2020 and 2016.
He then May 11 election rally Speaking on a beach in Wildwood, New Jersey, he claimed he would “save our health care system from Joe Biden’s immigrant invasion.”
The truth is that Biden’s plan allows people who enroll in government programs and are leading productive lives to have health insurance.
This is Biden’s opportunity.
Trump’s obsession with Obamacare is an exploitable weakness that Biden is looking to exploit to the fullest, as his campaign began airing earlier this month. New TV Advertisement, Spending $14 million in battleground states He points out that President Trump still wants to “repeal” Obamacare.
He was subsequently interviewed on two radio stations on May 15th. Atlanta and Milwaukee In both speeches, delivered to largely black audiences, Trump stressed that he still wants to repeal Obamacare.
Biden: I saw his support slip Some black voters are less enthusiastic about him, and some Hispanic voters are turning to Trump.
Trump’s attack on Obamacare, which was signed into law when Biden was vice president and which Biden famously described on a microphone as a “big, big problem,” seems like an unintended political gift that Biden would never veto.
Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Chris Brennan on X (formerly Twitter): @ByChrisBrennan
