A Republican running in a hotly contested race for an open congressional seat now says that Obamacare is here to stay.
David Young, who is running for Iowa’s third congressional seat, said at a healthcare forum Monday that the Affordable Care Act “is going to be here to stay,” according to the Des Moines Register.
“The president is not going to allow his keystone legislation to go by the wayside. So we’re going to have to work to make it better,” he said.
That is a marked change from Young’s previous statements on the law. At a training event for activists in August, he said, “We get a Republican majority, let’s defund, cut, delay, whatever it takes to get rid of Obamacare.”
And as of July, Young’s campaign site called for “Full Repeal of Obamacare.” The site’s “Solutions” page also no longer calls for full repeal. Instead, it says that he “believes Obamacare should be dismantled and replaced” with market-based solutions.
Young’s Obamacare comment has drawn blistering criticism from influential Iowa conservative radio host Steve Deace.
“By adopting his opponent’s talking points as his own, Young has effectively endorsed his Democrat opponent,” Deace wrote on his site on Oct. 14.
The Young campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
