White House spokesman Josh Earnest welcomed Sen. Ted Cruz to the 2016 presidential race on Monday with a swipe at the Texas Republican for making the repeal of the Affordable Care Act a highlight of his newly announced campaign,
Mediaite reports.
"There was a presidential candidate who ran in 2012 promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and that campaign pledge didn't work out very well for him," Earnest said in response to a reporter's question about Cruz and the president's signature healthcare overhaul as a campaign issue.
Conservative firebrand Cruz became the first candidate to formally enter the 2016 race on Monday, the fifth birthday of the ACA, and immediately took aim at the law in his announcement speech at Liberty University in Virginia.
"Instead of the joblessness, instead of the millions forced into part-time work, instead of the millions who've lost their health insurance, lost their doctors, have faced skyrocketing health insurance premiums, imagine in 2017 a new president signing legislation repealing every word of Obamacare," he said to applause.
"Imagine healthcare reform that keeps government out of the way between you and your doctor and that makes health insurance personal and portable and affordable," he said.
Earnest, in his retort, was referring to 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, who opposed a "one-size-fits-all" federal version of the state-based health program he initiated as governor of Massachusetts.
Romney said the way to repeal Obamacare was to replace President Barack Obama.
Cruz on Monday quipped that compared to other challenges America has overcome in its history, repealing Obamacare "ain't all that tough."
"The power of the American people when we rise up and stand for liberty knows no bounds," he said.
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