House Speaker on Defense After 'No ObamaCare' Remark

President Biden isn't the only big name in DC who's catching flak for remarks made in the final stretch of Election 2024. Appearing at a GOP campaign rally on Monday in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, House Speaker Mike Johnson broached the subject of 2010's Affordable Care Act, aka ObamaCare, a target of Republican ire and repeal efforts for years—and hubbub soon ensued. More:

• The comments: "Health care reform's going to be a big part of the agenda," Johnson said, per the Washington Post, noting that Republicans want to "fix things." When someone in the audience asked, "No ObamaCare?," Johnson replied, "No ObamaCare. 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." NBC News has video.
• Further remarks: Johnson added that a "docs caucus" made up of GOP physicians who serve in the House have a "menu of options" to pull from, "including a sweeping overhaul," per NBC and the New York Times. "We want to take a blowtorch to the regulatory state. ... Trump's going to go big."

• Johnson: The House speaker, who voted in 2017 for a Trump-backed bill to repeal critical parts of ObamaCare, is now saying his words have been twisted. "Despite the dishonest characterizations from the Harris campaign, the audio and transcript make clear that I offered no such promise to end ObamaCare, and in fact acknowledged that the policy is 'deeply ingrained' in our health care system," he told Fox News Digital. "Still, House Republicans will always seek to reduce the costs and improve the quality and availability of health care for all Americans."
• Democrats: Axios reports that Dems "quickly seized" on Johnson's remarks, with the House Majority PAC blasting out press releases asking Republican House members if they planned to "denounce and disinvite" Johnson from events he was scheduled to appear at.
• Team Trump: Repealing ObamaCare "is not President Trump's policy position," according to Trump rep Karoline Leavitt, per the Post. "As President Trump has said, he will make our health care system better by increasing transparency, promoting choice and competition, and expanding access to new affordable health care and insurance options." While in office, Trump himself repeatedly promised to come up with a new health-care plan, though one never materialized. Asked about it again during the September debate with Harris, Trump said he had "concepts of a plan."

• Team Harris: "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,'" Harris campaign rep Sarafina Chitika said in a statement. "That means higher health-care costs for millions of families and ripping away protections from Americans with preexisting conditions like diabetes, asthma, or cancer." Newsweek notes that, during the September presidential debate, Harris said, "What we need to do is maintain and grow the Affordable Care Act."
• The American public: In a KFF poll from the end of the summer cited by the Post, respondents asked "which presidential candidate do you trust to do a better job" in handling health care costs chose Harris by 48% to Trump's 39%.

(More Mike Johnson stories.)