Ahead of Donald Trump’s campaign stop in Iowa today, DNC National Press Secretary Sarafina Chitika released the following statement: 

“If Donald Trump gets his way and repeals the Affordable Care Act, 40 million Americans will have their health care coverage endangered and as many as 135 million Americans with preexisting conditions could be subject to discrimination from insurance companies. Despite how unpopular it is to rip away health care and kick millions of young people off their parents’ insurance, Trump is not shying away from his extreme MAGA agenda – and voters will make sure he pays the price. President Biden’s promise to make coverage affordable and accessible for all Americans is more important now than ever before – the stakes of next year’s election could not be higher.”

Trump has continued to double down on his call to repeal the Affordable Care Act, telling MAGA Republicans to “never give up” in their efforts to “terminate” the landmark legislation. 

Daily Beast: “Trump Revives Plan to Dismantle Obamacare if Elected in 2024”

The Messenger: “Former President Donald Trump said he is ‘seriously looking at alternatives’ to Obamacare in a new post on his social media platform Truth Social. He also called it a ‘low point for the Republican Party’ that lawmakers failed to ‘terminate’ the health insurance program established by the Affordable Care Act. According to the latest figures this year, more than 40 million Americans rely on the program for those who can’t afford private plans.”

Trump: “The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare. I’m seriously looking at alternatives. We had a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it, and then raised their hands not to terminate it. It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!”

Trump: “Obamacare is a disaster. And I said, ‘We’re gonna do something about it.’”

Mediaite: “‘OBAMACARE SUCKS!!!’ Trump Rants About New Plan — Years After He Promised It Was ‘Two Weeks’ Away”

Trump isn’t the only 2024 Republican who is railing against the ACA – the entire field has advocated for ripping away health care from millions of Americans.

Jack Heath: “They’re going ahead and saying you would repeal the Affordable Care Act, would you?”

Haley: “It’s not about one small policy of, you know, Affordable Care Act. It’s about fixing the entire health care system.”

DeSantis: “That was one of [Trump’s] big promises as president, he had Republican majorities, and didn’t get the job done. … I opposed Obamacare, I did support the repeal and replace … What we’ll end up doing is effectively just superseding Obamacare.”

Justin Dougherty, Fox Carolina News: “If Republicans get control of Washington, [with] you in the White House, what’s your plan to repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act?”

DeSantis: “Well, look, that was a big failure. Obviously, under the Trump administration, that was a core promise — it didn’t happen. You know, what we’re gonna do is we have this massive health care bureaucracy: pharmaceutical, government, insurance, all this stuff. It’s a total mess. We’re gonna have a comprehensive plan to lower people’s costs, and yes, Obamacare hasn’t done it, so we’ll transcend Obamacare, but I think you got to do a lot more than just that.”

Ramaswamy: “I think Obamacare has been a disaster.”

Christie: “It’s about delivering on issues that voters care about. So the fact is that they care deeply about Obamacare. And Donald Trump promised them he’d repeal and replace it. He had a Republican Congress. He didn’t do it.”

If Trump or any other 2024 MAGA Republican takes power and repeals the Affordable Care Act, as many as 135 million Americans with preexisting conditions could have their protections ripped away from them – opening the door for insurance companies to discriminate against them.

Center for American Progress: “According to new estimates from the Center for American Progress, 135 million people under age 65, or about half of nonelderly people, have a preexisting condition that an insurer could use to discriminate against them if they ever sought coverage through the individual market in the absence of ACA protections.”

KFF Poll: “Majorities of Democrats [88%], Republicans [62%], and independents [73%] say it is ‘very important’ to continue each of [the Affordable Care Act’s] protections for people with pre-existing conditions.”

Repealing the Affordable Care Act is extremely unpopular and would be devastating for the millions of Americans who depend on it.

Jon Favreau: “If Trump wins, 40 million people could lose their health care, and insurance companies would get to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. If Biden wins, that…won’t happen.”

KFF Poll: 64% believe it is “very important” insurance companies continue to be prohibited from charging sick people more – including 55% of Republicans. 

NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll: “Thirteen years after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, more than eight in ten Americans (83%) either agree or strongly agree that all Americans have a basic right to healthcare coverage.”

Bryan Bennett: “Per our October @NavigatorSurvey research, repealing the ACA (and January 6) remain the top concerns about Trump’s first term as president”

Washington Post: “But what’s clear is that an effort to ‘terminate’ Obamacare is not something Americans are pining for. Not only were the GOP’s efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare during Trump’s term historically unpopular, but the law also appears to have gotten more popular since then. … And when politicians talk of ending health insurance for tens of millions of Americans, dropping coverage of preexisting conditions and cutting Obamacare’s Medicaid funding, things get even dicier.”