Despite his comments about the “stupidity of the American voter,” Jonathan Gruber still has some friends on the board of his home state’s Obamacare exchange.
During Thursday’s monthly meeting, members of the Massachusetts Health Connector Board on which Gruber still serves wore heart-shaped pins with Gruber cartoons on them to showcase their support for the Obamacare architect and MIT professor, as reports the Boston Globe.
“Jon’s been an extraordinarily important member of this board since he was appointed by Governor Romney in 2006,” alleged board member and Harvard School of Public Health Dean Nancy Turnbull. “He’s devoted, he’s knowledgeable, and it’s been great to have him on the board.”
Turnbull added that Gruber has “been treated extraordinarily badly and disrespectfully” for his comments.
Another board member, Celia Wcislo, dubbed Gruber a “stand-up, wonderful guy.”
“We’ve worked collaboratively,” Wcislo explained. “We’ve always come up with a consensus even though we come from very different views.”
Before being contracted to do some consultant work on Obamacare, Gruber helped construct the Massachusetts health care law after which the Affordable Care Act was modeled.
Though not all of the board members wore the Gruber pins, this is certainly the most support the Obamacare architect has received since he became infamous for asserting that the health care law passed thanks to its “lack of transparency” and Americans’ “stupidity.”
Gruber was scrutinized at a House committee hearing last week, where he deemed himself “sorry” for and “embarrassed” by his past comments.
Unfortunately, Gruber did not attend Thursday’s Connector Board meeting in person but instead listened in via phone. He declined to comment on the support pins in an e-mail.
It’s not only Gruber’s fellow board members who are demonstrating some semblance of support despite his deplorable comments.
Though “embarrassed” by Gruber’s statements, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) has rejected demands to remove the MIT professor from the Massachusetts health exchange board.
“He is going to stay on the Connector Board as long as I’m governor because I think he’s made a real contribution,” affirmed Patrick. “And I think people say stupid things and they apologize for the stupid things and we move on. His contributions certainly so far have outweighed the stupid things.”
H/T Daily Caller
