WASHINGTON — The 2024 presidential debates are months away, but President Joe Biden and ex-President Donald Trump are already engaging in general election-style disputes, starting with a long-standing issue: health care.
Biden and his reelection campaign officials are zeroing in on the former president after he said Saturday he’s considering “alternatives” to President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 health care law, which Trump claims is driving up costs.
While Trump has yet to offer a specific plan, he has backed proposals that would terminate health care insurance for millions of Americans, Biden and his supporters warn.
“My predecessor has once again, God love him, called for cuts that could rip away health insurance for tens of millions of Americans in Medicaid,” Biden told reporters Monday.
Trump: ‘I’m seriously looking at alternatives’
Democrats jumped on the opportunity to talk about health care coverage after a weekend post by Trump on his Truth Social platform.
“The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare,” Trump said. “I’m seriously looking at alternatives.”
Trump did not offer specifics, but he attacked a Wall Street Journal editorial protesting health care regulations and costs. The former president also cited his failed attempts to repeal Obamacare while in office, an effort that came up short because of objections from Republicans such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Trump’s campaign did not comment on the details of his health care plan, or the attacks on his call to repeal Obamacare.
Health care ‘will be on the ballot’
As part of their counter, the Biden campaign organized a conference call for reporters featuring former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a key player in passage of the legislation known as “Obamacare,” and Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, a battleground state in a Biden-Trump race.
Health care “will be on the ballot,” Pelosi said, because Trump is “hellbent on destroying the Affordable Care Act.”
Cooper called health care “an issue that resonates across the country.”
While Trump hasn’t talked about health care extensively on the 2024 campaign trail, repealing the Affordable Care Act was a major goal during his term in office. His administration urged the Supreme Court to overturn the legislation even after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Getting ready for Biden vs. Trump II
The Biden campaign team also appears to be counting on the distinct possibility that Trump will be their opponent in a rematch next fall.
Trump enjoys big leads over Republican opponents vying for the GOP presidential nomination, although rivals such as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis believe they can break through in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina and make it a race.
Trump is also polling well against Biden in early general election matchups. Biden and Trump each commanded 37% of the vote in a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll released last month.
Trump has not commented on health care since his Saturday post, but he indicated he would keep bringing up the issue. Failure to repeal Obamacare “was a low point for the Republican Party,” Trump said, “but we should never give up!