Harris pokes fun at Trump's 'concept' on health care plan

During this week’s presidential debate, ABC News’ Linsey Davis reminded Donald Trump that he had “long promised to repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. She then asked, “So tonight, nine years after your first campaign, do you have a plan and can you tell us what it is?”

The Republican candidate’s response wandered for a moment — he claimed to have “saved” the ACA during his first term, which was a blatant lie — before assuring voters that he and his team are “working on things.”

Asked whether he had a plan to replace Obamacare, the former president said, “I have some ideas for a plan.” He added that Americans should expect to hear more about it “in the not too distant future.”

This did not go unnoticed by his Democratic rival. As reported in a Washington Post article:

At a campaign event in Charlotte, Kamala Harris began mocking Donald Trump’s comments during Tuesday’s presidential debate about what he would do with the Affordable Care Act. People in the crowd began shouting “Concepts!” echoing Trump’s response that he had “concepts” for a health care plan.

The vice president not only played up her Republican opponent’s rhetoric, she ridiculed Trump and turned him into a joke. Hours later, Harris held a second event in North Carolina and did it again.

Around the same time, Harris’ campaign issued a press release highlighting the Republican’s intention to destroy the existing health care system — a well-documented fact.

The day before, as NBC News reported, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told CNN that the candidate would share his health care plan in the “not too distant future.” Asked when, she added that the campaign had not yet set a specific date.

I can understand why Team Trump feels the need to play this boring game, but the Republican and his political operation have been making absurd promises along these lines for so many years that the idea that he will unveil a real plan anytime soon is literally laughable.

Indeed, let us take a brief journey back in time and note the familiarity of the circumstances.

In mid-July 2020, for example, as part of his re-election campaign, Trump appeared on Fox News and declared, “We will sign a health care plan within two weeks, a comprehensive, specific health care plan.”

As regular readers may recall, two weeks had passed and the “complete and comprehensive” health plan was nowhere to be found. As July 2020 drew to a close, the then-president was pressed for an explanation. He told reporters, “We’re going to come up with a very inclusive health plan. I’ll be signing it very soon. It might be Sunday (August 2), but it will be very soon.”

On August 3, 2020, Trump presented a new timetable: “I want to make it clear that we’re going to introduce a substantial health care plan sometime before – hopefully before the end of the month. It’s almost complete now.”

August 2020, of course, passed without that elusive plan being put into place. By mid-September 2020, the then-president was reluctant to admit that he was failing to deliver on his promise. “I’ve got it all ready. I’ve got it all ready,” Trump told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, adding, “I’ve got it all ready.”

It was exactly four years ago this week. He hadn’t prepared everything.

A month later, the Republican told CBS News’ Lesley Stahl that his health care reform plan would be “announced very soon.” After Trump abruptly ended the interview, then-White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany handed the “60 Minutes” anchor a thick binder that she said contained the White House’s health care reform plan. It didn’t.

Four years later, not only is Trump talking about the “concepts” of his nonexistent plan, but his campaign team is maintaining the fiction that a draft will soon be made public.

My advice: don’t hold your breath waiting for a plan that will never appear.

This post updates our related previous coverage.