In a pair of tweets on Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump proved once again how out of touch he is with the American public. Just three months ago, Pew Research published a study showing that a substantial majority of Americans – some 60 percent – feel the federal government is responsible for providing healthcare coverage for all citizens. Not only that, but the formerly-controversial idea of a “single-payer” system, like the Medicare For All bill just introduced with wide Democratic support by Senator Bernie Sanders, was favored by a third of Americans.
Trump, however, sees universal coverage, enjoyed by every highly-developed nation in the world except the United States, as a “curse” on the citizens of this country.
Bernie Sanders is pushing hard for a single payer healthcare plan – a curse on the U.S. & its people…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2017
…I told Republicans to approve healthcare fast or this would happen. But don’t worry, I will veto because I love our country & its people.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2017
Universal coverage was long considered a pipe dream, even as recently as during the primary campaign between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Secretary Clinton dismissed it as an “idea that will never, ever come to pass.” But buoyed by the popularity of Senator Sanders after the disastrous win by Donald Trump in November, the Democratic Party has moved decidedly left on the issue.
At the time of Sanders’ introduction of his bill, painted as the sane alternative to the Republican frenzy to strip all Americans of non-private health coverage, there were a number of Democratic senators signed on, including those widely considered to be front-runners for the Democratic nomination in 2020. Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and even the favorites among Clinton loyalists, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, all joined Senator Sanders in introducing Medicare For All. They were joined by Tammy Baldwin, Richard Blumenthal, Martin Heinrich, Mazie Hirono, Pat Leahy, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Brian Schatz, Jeanne Shaheen, Tom Udall, and Sheldon Whitehouse.
The irony, of course, is that even if one considers universal coverage a “curse” as Donald Trump does, the bill stands essentially no chance of passage in the first place. Trump would love to portray himself as a savior of conservative principles, but with Republicans in firm control of Congress (at least until 2018), the odds of Trump even needing to look through his plethora of gold-plated pens to find the one for vetoes are slim to none.
