Mitt Romney finally admitted that Obamacare never would’ve become law if not for Romneycare, Romney’s signature health law in Massachusetts, contradicting pretty much everything the former Republican presidential nominee claimed during the 2012 election cycle.
In an interview with the Boston Globe about Staples founder Thomas Stemberg, who died today, Romney made some interesting comments about state-run health insurance plans.
While characterizing Stemberg, a long-time Romney friend, as a driving force for Romneycare, Romney finally admitted that Romneycare was the blueprint for Obamacare:
“Without Tom [Stemberg] pushing it, I don’t think we would have had Romneycare,” Romney said. “Without Romneycare, I don’t think we would have Obamacare. So, without Tom a lot of people wouldn’t have health insurance.”
Romney repeatedly tried to distance himself from Obamacare when he ran for president in 2012. The former Massachusetts governor insisted that the health care system he established in his home state of Massachusetts was nothing like Obamacare.
“Obamacare was bad policy yesterday, it’s bad policy today,” Romney said in 2012. “Obamacare was bad law yesterday, it’s bad law today,” he repeated.
Romney’s latest comments confirm what so many conservatives, including several who challenged him for the Republican nomination in 2012, suspected about Romney all along: that he only gave lip-service to Obamacare repeal because deep down, he actually supported the law since it was so closely modeled after his signature accomplishment in Massachusetts.
