Trump is trying to rewrite the story of his anti-ACA crusade as Election Day nears

Donald Trump got into another mess of his own making Wednesday night, declaring at a campaign rally that he intends to “protect” women “whether women like it or not.” Unsurprisingly, Kamala Harris wasted no time in taking advantage of the former president’s comments, but the Democratic vice president did it in an interesting way.

Trump’s rhetoric, Harris explained, was “very offensive to women in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right and their ability to make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies.” But as part of the same rebuttal, she tied the GOP nominee’s comments to a larger argument about health care.

“I’ve said throughout this campaign, being very clear that among the stakes in this election is whether or not we continue with the Affordable Care Act,” Harris told reporters. “It’s been a part of Donald Trump’s agenda for a very long time. He has made dozens of attempts to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.”

Obviously, the former president was watching the Democrat’s press conference and felt the need to respond. Trump wrote via his social media platform:

“(Harris) is now holding a press conference saying I want to end the Affordable Care Act. I never mentioned doing that, never even thought about it.”

Gaslighting at this level isn’t just annoying, it’s offensive. Trump’s approach to the debate is rooted in the idea that American voters have no memories, no access to search engines, and no critical thinking skills.

If the GOP nominee wanted to argue that he intends to protect the integrity of the ACA during a possible second term, fine. I would find it very difficult to take such praise seriously, but it is difficult to say with certainty exactly what he might do if he were to return to power.

But the idea that he “never mentioned” ending the Affordable Care Act and “never even thought about that” is so crazy that one can only assume Trump sees voters as fools.

Most it’s not really ambiguous. As a candidate in 2016, the then-candidate repeatedly promised to repeal and replace the law he called “Obamacare.” His campaign website was explicit about his goal: Trump wanted “a complete repeal” of the ACA.

On the first day of his presidency, the Republican signed an executive order who partially read“It is my administration’s policy to seek prompt repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”

In the weeks and months that followed, the then-president pushed GOP majorities on Capitol Hill to end the ACA. After House Republicans passed a bill to do just that, Trump organized a celebration event in the Rose Garden of the White House, where he told the audience that Obamacare was “dead.”

Months later, the repeal effort failed in the Senate, and Trump soon after launched a years-long crusade against the late Sen. John McCain, as the Arizona Republican helped destroy the party’s anti-ACA crusade.

However, Trump spent the rest of his term subversion and sabotage the effective health reform law.

After leaving the White House, Trump continued to criticize the Affordable Care Act, he continued.

At the end of last year, for example, the republican whined that some GOP senators failed to help him “finish” the ACA in 2017. “It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!” Trump added.

A month later, the Republican posted a video to his social media platform, vowing to “replace” the existing healthcare system.

More recently, Trump stated that he has “concepts of a plan“that would replace the ACA, and at his last rally in Nevada, held hours after his denial of his intentions, the former president said the Affordable Care Act”it still stinks.”

Trump ‘didn’t even think’ about ending the ACA? Please.

The result is some important questions for voters in the final days of the race: Are American families willing to vote for a presidential candidate who is eager to tear down the nation’s health care system and replace it with an alternative he doesn’t want to talk about?

If you’re worried about your family’s health security, would you really want to take a dramatic risk based on vague assurances and obvious lies?

This post updates us related prior coverage.