Trump Served Up Revisionist History On Obamacare During Debate

Donald Trump spent the 2016 presidential campaign promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He spent most of his first year in office trying to do just that.

Now he wants you to believe he is responsible for saving the law.

This novel reinterpretation of history emerged on Tuesday evening at the ABC News presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.

Near the end of the debate in Philadelphia, moderator and ABC News anchor Linsey Davis asked whether Trump still intended to repeal and replace the health care law ― and, if so, what his replacement plan was.

Trump swore he had an alternative to the 2010 law, also known as Obamacare. When Davis pressed him to actually describe his alternative, he said “there are concepts and options we have to do that. And you’ll be hearing about it in the not-too-distant future.”

Trump has, of course, made such promises many times before― like in 2015,when he promised to replace the Affordable Care Act “with something terrific,” or in 2016,when he said “it’ll be great health care for much less money,” or in 2017,when he said “we’re going to have insurance for everybody.”

Trump never produced plans living up to those lofty promises, or any plans at all. Instead, he tried desperately to get congressional Republicans’ plans passed that projections suggested would cause many millions of Americans to lose coverage while stripping away protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

That effort failed in a dramatic late-night vote on the Senate floor when John McCain, the Arizona Republican, gave his thumbs-down ― a moment Harris recalled during the debate.

“The late great John McCain ― I will never forget that night ―