Pelosi hits Trump on health care: His ‘cruel hypocrisy knows no bounds’

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hammered President Trump on Friday for his efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act after he announced a new push to expand health care choice and drive down costs.

“The President’s cruel hypocrisy knows no bounds. While he claims to want affordable coverage, his Justice Department is busy arguing that courts should destroy protections for people with pre-existing conditions and strike down every other protection and guarantee of affordable health care for America’s families,” Pelosi said in a statement.

{mosads}“From Day One, the Trump Administration has sabotaged hard-working families’ health care, working to push families into shoddy junk plans, spike their health costs and take away their health care protections – all while pretending to care about people with pre-existing conditions,” she continued.

Pelosi vowed that the Democratic majority in the House would double down on efforts to broaden the Obama-era Affordable Care Act.

The comments come after a White House event on Friday afternoon at which the president promoted new rules passed this week that he said would “expand options and drive down the cost of health care.”

The new policy enables employers to give workers tax-exempted funds to allow them to purchase health coverage on the individual market rather than obtaining a plan through their places of work.

“This announcement is a monumental victory for small businesses,” Trump said in the White House Rose Garden.

The president also vowed to fight to bring down the costs of prescription drugs and protect health care coverage for those with preexisting conditions.

Health care has emerged as a leading issue for Democrats who have been infuriated by the White House’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, former President Obama’s signature health care platform.

While the White House maintains it does not want to curtail coverage for those with preexisting conditions, Democrats have pointed to a lawsuit the Trump administration is backing that would strike down the entire law, including its clause about protections for preexisting conditions. 

A lawsuit over the law is currently making its way through the courts.