A newly unearthed interview shows Donald Trump offering tentative praise for ObamaCare as it was about to pass, even though he has claimed throughout his presidential campaign that he said ObamaCare would be a “disaster” before Congress even voted for it.
{mosads}A clip published by the Toronto Star shows Trump, now the Republican nominee, offering some praise for President Obama’s healthcare reform a day before the bill was signed into law.
HLN host Joy Behar asked the billionaire at the time if he was “happy” about the legislation.
“I’m really torn,” Trump said on March 22, 2010.
“No. 1, as a human being, I like to see people — it’s inconceivable that, you know, people are sick, like you get sick, or I get sick, or the kids get sick, and you bring ‘em to a doctor — inconceivable that, you know, 31 or 33 million people can’t do that. So on one level, I think something had to be done,” he continued.
But Trump said the healthcare law would also “cost a lot of money in terms of competitiveness with this country.”
“Again, you go back to the humanitarian side, Joy, but at the same time this company may not be around any longer because of the cost,” he said. “So it is a very, very tough situation.”
Behar then asked Trump if she thought President Obama had gotten his “mojo” back. He compared the law to other high-dollar business deals he has seen fall flat.
“Somebody totally overpays for a company, and everybody says, ‘Great, great, what a hero,’ and he’s really a hero until four or five years later when everything implodes, the company goes down and he gets thrown out. … I’ve seen it 100 different times,” Trump responded.
“It’s a pretty tough thing, but yeah, right now, he’s certainly looking like a hero.”
In February 2011, Trump told CNSNews.com that the law should was unconstitutional and should be repealed.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to The Hill for comment.