Karine Jean-Pierre Gets Into It With Fox News Reporter Over Obamacare
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich went back and forth Tuesday over a possible verbal misstep by President Joe Biden regarding Obamacare. (Watch the video below.)
Jean-Pierre ended the debate with an impassioned endorsement of the health care program, officially known as the Affordable Care Act.
Heinrich, whose conservative network zeroed in on Biden’s language, had objected to the president’s use of the word “killing” in a speech Tuesday. She asked Jean-Pierre if Biden meant to “essentially accuse Republicans of murder.”
Biden had said his Republican opponent Donald Trump wanted to “terminate” the ACA. “Killing millions of Americans — taking them off of health care insurance and stripping others of services like home care,” Biden said.
A week earlier, though, Biden used the word “kicking” in a similar statement, saying Trump was interested in “kicking millions off Americans off their health insurance.” Mediaite speculated that Biden may have gone off-script Tuesday and it came out wrong.
The potential misstep didn’t come up while Jean-Pierre and Heinrich carried on with their exchange.
“Does [Biden] think that Republicans are trying to kill Americans?” Heinrich asked.
“I think you’re taking the most extreme definition, or extreme evaluation, of what the president said,” Jean-Pierre said. “Here’s the reality. The Affordable Care Act ― which obviously started in the Obama-Biden administration ― the president expanded on that, making sure that people have affordable health care. That saves lives. It does.”
Heinrich said Biden’s language was “stronger than usual.”
“But you’re taking what he said to the most extreme part of your definition,” Jean-Pierre said.
Heinrich attempted to interject one last time when Jean-Pierre launched into a defense of Obamacare.
“Let’s be really clear. People having health care is important. It saves lives. It is important to have that. The fact that this president was able to expand that is important, right?” the press secretary said.
She reminded Heinrich that Republicans have tried to repeal or defund the act dozens of times “when it is saving people’s lives.”
“Why?” Jean-Pierre added. “Do they not want Americans to have health care, affordable health care, to protect themselves, to save their lives?”
“The president’s trying to do the right thing,” she said. “He’s trying to be where a majority of Americans are, and protect their health care.”
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has threatened to renew efforts to replace Obamacare if elected in November. He claimed more recently that he just wants to make the ACA “much better.”
H/T Mediaite
