Trump campaign distances itself from House speaker’s plan for ‘massive reform’ to the ACA
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(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Mike Johnson’s suggestion that Republicans would implement “massive reform” to the Affordable Care Act — known as Obamacare — is causing a bit of a headache for the Trump campaign.
At a campaign event Monday in Pennsylvania, a battleground state in the presidential race, Johnson made that assertion.
“No Obamacare?” an attendee of the event asked Johnson.
“No Obamacare,” Johnson replied. “The ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work, and we got a lot of ideas on how to do that.”
Johnson did not elaborate on specifics but said Republican doctors in the House, known as the GOP Doctors Caucus, have been working on possible legislative ideas. The speaker said Republicans want to “take a blowtorch to the regulatory state” and “fix things” in the health care sector.
Health care is a key issue in the 2024 election and both parties have different views on the ACA, which set minimum benefit standards, allowed more people to be eligible for Medicaid and ensured consumers with preexisting conditions could have health care coverage.
“Health care reform is going to be a big part of the agenda. When I say we’re going to have a very aggressive first 100 days agenda, we got a lot of things still on the table,” he said.
The speaker said “if you take government bureaucrats out of the health care equation and you have a doctor patient relationship it is better for everybody, more efficient more effective. That’s the free market. Trump is going to be for the free market.”
The Harris campaign sharply criticized Johnson’s comment. Spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement, “Speaker Mike Johnson is making it clear – if Donald Trump wins, he and his Project 2025 allies in Congress will make sure there is ‘no Obamacare.’ That means higher health care costs for millions of families and ripping away protections from Americans with preexisting conditions like diabetes, asthma, or cancer. Voters see Trump’s ‘concepts of a plan’ for what they are: Ending the Affordable Care Act, jacking up prices, and leaving millions of Americans without the care they need.”
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign quickly tried to separate itself from the speaker’s comments. A spokeswoman told the New York Times that they were “not President Trump’s policy position.”
The ACA has become increasingly popular since it was enacted in 2010. A KFF poll in February found that two-thirds of the public said it was very important to maintain the law’s ban on charging people with health problems more for health insurance or rejecting their coverage.
Former President Donald Trump tried and failed to repeal the ACA while he was in office.
“Obamacare was lousy health care. Always was,” Trump said at ABC’s presidential debate. “It’s not very good today and, what I said, that if we come up with something, we are working on things, we’re going to do it and we’re going to replace it.”
Pressed for details on what he would replace it with, Trump said he did not have a specific plan in place, but rather “concepts of a plan.”
(WASHINGTON) — Election officials in Georgia and North Carolina said Monday that voting from their states in the presidential election in November will not be derailed by the damage left by Hurricane Helene even as crews continue to search for victims.
Though parts of the two states were devastated by the hurricane, election officials said they are working on plans to assure that every ballot cast for the Nov. 5 election will be counted.
“What has been on everyone’s mind is what will happen to elections,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a news conference Monday. “Good news: Absentee ballots are going out this week as scheduled, and early voting will start next Tuesday, on Oct. 15.”
Raffensperger said that while Helene caused widespread damage and power outages in his state, he does not expect there to be any major disruptions to the general election. He said election offices and voting equipment in the state’s 159 counties escaped serious damage.
Blake Evans, elections director for the Georgia secretary of state’s office, said county officials are assessing about 2,400 polling locations. So far, just three will have to be changed because of storm damage, he added.
In North Carolina, the state’s Board of Elections unanimously approved on Monday a measure that would broaden the authority of local election officials in the counties most impacted by the disaster.
The approved measure will allow election officials in 13 of the hardest-hit North Carolina counties to make changes to voting sites, access emergency supplies and deploy teams to assist with absentee voting at disaster shelters ahead of early voting commencing on Oct. 17.
“We are committed to ensuring that we open early voting on the 17th in all 100 counties, including these affected counties. It may look a little different in these affected counties, but we fully intend to offer early voting starting on the 17th,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina Board of Elections.
As of Monday, every county election office in North Carolina was opened, according to Bell, compared to last week when 14 of those offices were closed due to the storm. Bell thanked local election officials throughout the state for working to get their offices online while facing “personal struggles” including damage to their homes, transportation issues and a lack of basic utilities.
“What a difference a week makes … this is just quite the feat,” Bell said. “Our struggles are not over, and that is why we need the Board to take action to give the flexibility necessary to carry out these elections, and to be of the best service to the voters that we can be.”
She told reporters Monday that authorities could bring in National Guard tents or FEMA trailers to act as polling locations, and she insisted that it can be done securely and safely.
“It’s not as spacious as your normal polling location, but it does provide the space necessary at the existing voting site if the parking lot [of a polling site is] still accessible,” she said. “[And] even in a temporary structure we can still maintain security of the voting equipment and safety of our workers.”
In Yancey County, North Carolina, Board of Elections Director Mary Beth Tipton told ABC News that officials are still assessing how many of the county’s 11 polling sites would be operational by Election Day. Most of the other polling sites are in schools and fire stations, which are currently being used as shelters and emergency relief sites, and two election stations were severely damaged by flood waters.
“There are some of them that don’t even exist anymore,” Tipton said.
One of the hardest-hit counties was Buncombe County, which sustained historic flooding. The county includes Asheville, the eleventh-largest city in the state.
As of Monday, 67,000 utility customers remained without electricity and a large part of Buncombe County was without running water due to major damage to the water system and its water treatment plant, officials said. Recovery crews continued to search massive piles of debris for 60 people who remain unaccounted for, officials said.
“I’m here to reassure our community that Buncombe County will vote,” Corinne Duncan, the director of Buncombe County Election Services, said at a news conference Monday.
Duncan said she was concerned that some polling places would have to be changed due to the lack of water or power. She said most of the election offices and voting equipment were spared by the storm, but officials are working to “strategize and modify plans” to make sure anyone who wants to vote can do so.
She said officials are trying to get in touch with polling workers for training to make sure polling stations are staffed. As of now, early voting will begin as planned in Buncombe County and residents still have until Oct. 11 to register to vote, Duncan said.
“We are assessing what voting locations are available,” said Duncan, adding, “We must respect the gravity of our situation.”
(WASHINGTON) — As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are both taking a break from campaigning in battleground states on Monday to memorialize the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
Harris, alongside second gentleman Doug Emhoff, marked the day by planting a pomegranate tree at the vice president’s residence — a symbol of hope and righteousness in Judaism. Trump visited Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch — considered a sacred site amongst Hasidic Jews — in Queens, New York, where he had an intimate private visit to the Ohel, the gravesite of the Rebbe at the Old Montefiore Cemetery, where he was seen shaking hands with Rabbis and mingling with leaders.
Later, Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks at a remembrance event with Jewish community leaders at his own property Trump National Doral Miami, his campaign announced.
On Monday, Harris urged the country that as they reflect on the horrors of Oct. 7, they also be reminded “we cannot lose faith.”
“I will never forget October 7, and the world must never forget. What is asked of us? We must work to ensure nothing like the horrors of Oct. 7 can ever happen again, and on this solemn day, I will restate my pledge to always ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself, and that I will always work to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish people here and around the world,” Harris pledged.
To commemorate Oct. 7, Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz visited the “Nova Exhibition” — an exhibit honoring the victims of the Hamas attack — in Culver City, California, on Monday. Walz was greeted by Noa Beer, a survivor of the Oct. 7 attack and an organizer of the Nova Music Festival, and the exhibition’s event producer Virginia Fout upon his arrival at the exhibition, according to the Harris campaign.
Following Hamas’ attacks on Israel on Oct, 7, 2023, and Israel’s ensuing assaults on Gaza, the conflict in the Middle East has become one of the top issues this election cycle. Pressure for a cease-fire has created a rift within the Democratic Party and Republicans are attempting to capitalize on that moment while Trump’s own inflammatory comments continue to face pushback from critics.
Tune into ABC News Live at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7, for “Oct 7th: Race to Survive” — special coverage of the anniversary of the conflict. Veteran correspondent Matt Gutman highlights voices of Israelis and Palestinians impacted by the war and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Since Hamas launched its surprise terrorist attack in Israel one year ago, and Israel responded by declaring war, thousands have reportedly been killed or injured. Israel has said its goal is to destroy Hamas and that it attempts to minimize civilian casualties as often as possible. Meanwhile, a humanitarian crisis has unfolded in Gaza, including the collapse of the health care system.
Harris, while stressing the alliance between the United States and Israel, has appealed to the humanitarian crises in Gaza and has repeatedly called for a cease-fire, including at the Democratic National Convention in August, where she officially introduced herself to the public for the first time as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential race.
The Democratic Party is divided on the issue as the war deepens with Iran’s latest attack on Israel. Although Harris has noticeably attempted to thread the needle in an attempt to bridge the ideological gap, concerns remain about whether the Biden-Harris administration lacks influence over Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a preview clip released ahead of her interview on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Harris remained aligned with President Joe Biden’s position, saying the administration is doing what they can to “allow Israel to defend itself” and that they will continue to put “pressure on Israel and in the region, including Arab leaders” to release the hostages and achieve a cease-fire.
She claimed the negotiations they’ve done with Netanyahu have led to open conversations and changes in Israel’s approach in the region, but dodged the question on whether Netanyahu is a “real close” ally of the U.S., saying, “the better question is: do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes.”
Trump on the campaign trail has made an extensive effort to court Jewish American voters, often claiming that “no President has done more for Israel than I have.” Over the course of the campaign, Trump has participated in Jewish-focused campaign events with the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Israeli-American Council.
He has also been campaigning with major donor and vocal Israel-advocate Miriam Adelson, who is investing nearly $90 million in support of Trump in the final months of the 2024 general election.
At the same time, Trump has repeatedly sparked criticism by attacking Jewish Democrats, including Emhoff and Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, claiming that Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats should get their “head examined.”
“They have not been your friends. I don’t understand how anybody can support them,” Trump said during his virtual remarks at the Republican Jewish Coalition annual summit last month. “And I say it constantly. If you had them to support and you were Jewish, you have to have your head examined.”
Trump also criticized Netanyahu, saying in a TIME magazine interview published in April that the Oct. 7 attacks happened “on his watch” and that he has been “rightfully criticized” for the attacks.
“I will say this, Bibi Netanyahu rightfully has been criticized for what took place on Oct. 7,” Trump told TIME, criticizing him again for backing out on what was supposed to be a joint U.S.-Israel operation to assassinate a top Iranian general in 2020.
“It happened on his watch,” Trump said about Netanyahu and the Israel-Hamas war. “And I think it’s had a profound impact on him, despite everything. Because people said that shouldn’t have happened. They have the most sophisticated equipment.”
Still, Trump met with Netanyahu in July, insisting their relationship “was never bad.”
“We’ve had a good working relationship. I was very good to Israel, better than any president has ever been,” Trump claimed after meeting with Netanyahu.
Trump has insisted in his campaign messages that the world was a safer place under his administration, claiming that the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel would not have happened under his presidency and that foreign adversaries are launching attacks because of the Biden-Harris administration’s weakness.
“Ever since Iran has been exporting terror all over the world and, it’s been just unraveling, the whole Middle East has been unraveling, but of course, the whole world has been unraveling since we left office,” Trump said at a campaign event in Waunakee, Wisconsin, last Tuesday just after Iran launched missile attacks on Israel.
Harris also met with Netanyahu in July. After the meeting, she reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself but added, “how it does so matters.” Harris said that she talked to Netanyahu about her “serious concern” about the collateral damage and suffering of Gazan civilians.
Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people in Israel, with some 250 people kidnapped. And more than 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
“With over 2 million people facing high levels of food insecurity, and half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, what has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating; the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” Harris said.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Libertarian National Convention on May 24, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association is investigating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after the resurfacing of a decades-old incident in which Kennedy allegedly drove a dead whale’s head across state lines, a representative for the agency told ABC News.
Kate Silverstein, a spokeswoman for NOAA Fisheries, told ABC News Monday that the agency was investigating Kennedy, confirming what the former independent presidential candidate told a crowd in Arizona over the weekend.
“I received a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Institute saying that they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago,” Kennedy said at the event, where he was campaigning for former President Donald Trump, whom he endorsed after suspending his own campaign.
In a 2012 Town and Country article, Kennedy’s daughter, Kick Kennedy, told an anecdote about her father’s handling of a dead whale that washed up on a Massachusetts beach.
Robert Kennedy used a chainsaw to cut off the head of the whale and strapped it to the roof of his minivan roughly three decades ago, Kick Kennedy recounted.
The story resurfaced last month and drew condemnation from at least one environmental group, which called for the NOAA to investigate.
Silverstein did not respond to a question seeking confirmation that NOAA’s investigation was related to the incident Kick Kennedy described.
She said the agency does not comment on ongoing investigations.
