The economist often referred to as the architect of Obamacare called Donald Trump’s healthcare policy incoherent on Monday, firing back at the GOP nominee for criticizing him during Sunday night’s debate.
“My only comment is that last night showed the difference between a candidate with a strong and coherent health care agenda [Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton] and one with a garbage salad of right-wing talking points,” Jonathan Gruber said in the Boston Business Journal.
Gruber is an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who played a pivotal role in crafting the Affordable Care Act. He said several years ago that the law was passed partly because of a lack of transparency and due to the “stupidity of the American voter.”
Trump had referred to Gruber during Sunday’s presidential debate in St. Louis while criticizing the law.
“Jonathan Gruber, the architect of Obamacare, he said it was a great lie,” Trump said.
The Republican nominee discussed his healthcare plan, which would repeal Obamacare and replace it with popular Republican healthcare reforms including state block grants for Medicaid and allowing consumers to buy health insurance across state lines.
Clinton said the law needs to be improved upon and that her plan would do so, including bringing down out-of-pocket costs such as co-pays and deductibles and lowering the price of prescription drugs.
