Trump on Obamacare's rising popularity: 'There's nothing to love — it's a disaster, folks, OK?'

pulse

February 27, 2017 4:42 PM

Trump acknowledged during a Monday address to the National Governors Association that the Affordable Care Act was the subject of rising approval ratings.

President Donald Trump.

President Donald Trump acknowledged during a Monday address to the National Governors Association that the Affordable Care Act was the subject of rising approval ratings.

But he dismissed the sudden popularity of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, which is better known as Obamacare.

"And it's interesting — it's sort of like you see it with politicians," he told the group of assembled governors from both major parties. "You see it with President Obama, when you know he's getting out of office and the clock is ticking and he's not going to be there, his approval rating goes way up. Even though, you know, not that active in the last period of time ... That's not him, that's like, almost everybody."

"I see it happening with Obamacare," he continued. "People hate it, but now they see that the end is coming and they say, 'Oh, maybe we love it.' There's nothing to love — it's a disaster, folks, OK? So you have to remember that."

The healthcare law's approval has jumped sharply in recent weeks, with the Trump administration and Congress promising to repeal and replace it.

A recent poll from the Pew Research Center showed the ACA's popularity to be soaring, hitting its highest point since it was passed.

The survey showed the law with 54% approval, with just 43% of respondents disapproving. The approval rating increased by 6 percentage points since December 2016.

"Obamacare has failed," Trump said earlier in his remarks, later adding: "As soon as we touch it ... they're going to say 'it's the Republicans problem.' That's the way it is. But we have to do what's right because Obamacare is a failed disaster."

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