Those are two lies in less than one sentence from Trump’s 100-day interview with Sarah Westwood of the Washington Examiner, a further-right-than-the-Moonie Times magazine and website owned by conservative oil billionaire Philip Anschutz.
It’s been obvious since forever that Trump knows next to nothing about healthcare, other than that his “better for everyone and cheaper” whopper resonates with his Know Nothing base and will be repeated uncritically by right-wing media. Which is what this interview was all about.
But what about Westwood, surely she’s the Examiner’s top reporter, with substantial Washington experience and maybe even some healthcare expertise?
Of course not.
More, below.
According to the Examiner itself, Westwood has worked there for less than a year, presumably after an internship sponsored by the wingnut National Journalism Center, a starter job at a small Georgia daily, and a poli sci bachelor’s from George Washington. I bet she still gets carded.
And here she was interviewing POTUS, and doing what she was chosen by Bannon to do — ask softball, wingnut-infused questions and accept the kayfabe answers without challenging follow-up.
Read the whole thing to see what I mean.
On healthcare, she asks Trump whether his whopper plan to lower premiums, maintain coverage levels, increase consumer choice, and spend less taxpayer money on healthcare is “a little conflicting.”
Trump replies with a typical lie-laden word salad:
Well what I want to do is, I want to see what happens with our bill first. Because we're going to have great healthcare at a lower cost. We're going to have premiums coming down, and they'll really start tumbling down in two years, they will start tumbling, because the insurance companies will be so competitive. And you'll have health plans, you'll have healthcare plans, that you've never even — I know a lot about healthcare, you know a lot about healthcare, they'll come up with plans that you've never even heard about that will be so good. They'll have a lot of competition, they'll have a lot of new ideas that people don't even think about today. And it'll be a beautiful thing.
Trump also complained about “my paying the insurance companies a fortune” via ACA subsidies, which is right now the ONLY way to avoid millions of moderate-income people losing their insurance, which would be guaranteed by the “replace” bills Trump supports.
The “my” echoes his “my military” and re-emphasizes Trump’s off-the-charts narcissism.
Westwood “followed up” by asking Trump what grade he would give his first 100 days.
It’s a Gish Gallop kind of interview, Trump bloviating several lies a minute and a simpatico kid lapping it up.
As will most of his Know Nothing base.