WASHINGTON - In response to Nikki Haley leaving the door open to repealing the Affordable Care Act, Biden-Harris 2024 spokesperson Ammar Moussa released the following statement:

“Nikki Haley showed us who she is as governor of South Carolina when she blocked Medicaid expansion, proudly and deliberately denying thousands of her own constituents access to affordable health care. So it’s no surprise she appears to have no problem ripping away the law that 40 million Americans rely on for health insurance. Make no mistake: the Donald Trump plan – who Haley still loudly supports – of a MAGA repeal of the ACA could leave millions of Americans without health care coverage, allow insurance companies to deny coverage for those with preexisting conditions like asthma or diabetes, and force families to pay exorbitant costs. Whether it’s Trump, Haley, or another MAGA minion, Republicans are coming for Americans’ health care – but President Biden won’t let that happen.”

NEW: Nikki Haley was asked yesterday if she would repeal the Affordable Care Act, and she left the door open to ripping away health care coverage from millions of Americans.

Jack Heath: “…They're going ahead and saying you would repeal the Affordable Care Act, would you?”

Haley: “...It's not about one small policy of, you know, Affordable Care Act. It's about fixing the entire health care system. ”

Haley has consistently attacked the Affordable Care Act and called to “defund” it.

Haley: “We have fought Obamacare in South Carolina as much as we possibly could. We said no to the state exchanges. We said no to the Medicaid expansion.…They just turned and set every state back with this bill that we know did not work.”

Haley: “When it came to Obamacare, we didn’t just say ‘no,’ we said ‘never.’… And we’re going to keep on fighting until we get people like [Senator Tim Scott] and everybody else in Congress to defund Obamacare.”

Haley: “We would end a disastrous health care program, and replace it with reforms that lowered costs and actually let you keep your doctor.”

Live News 5: “Gov. Haley speaks against Affordable Care Act, SC prepares for key deadline”

Haley vowed to never expand Medicaid coverage as governor of South Carolina – which left millions of her constituents uninsured and forced them to pay exorbitant out-of-pocket costs to receive essential care.

NBC News: “Haley opposed efforts to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (South Carolina remains just one of 11 states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid to allow more Americans to have health insurance).”

ABC News Radio: “In her introduction of former presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley vowed to oppose President Obama’s recommendations to expand Medicaid in her state.”

Haley: ‘They’re trying to throw Obamacare and tell us that we have to bust our budgets and expand Medicaid.… Not in South Carolina. As long as I am the governor of South Carolina, we will not expand Medicaid on President Obama’s watch. We will not expand Medicaid ever.”

Haley’s comments come after Trump this week has renewed his efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, saying MAGA Republicans “should never give up” in their efforts to “terminate” the landmark legislation.

Daily Beast: “Trump Revives Plan to Dismantle Obamacare if Elected in 2024”

The Messenger: “Former President Donald Trump said he is ‘seriously looking at alternatives’ to Obamacare in a new post on his social media platform Truth Social. He also called it a ‘low point for the Republican Party’ that lawmakers failed to ‘terminate’ the health insurance program established by the Affordable Care Act. According to the latest figures this year, more than 40 million Americans rely on the program for those who can't afford private plans.”

Trump: “The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare. I’m seriously looking at alternatives. We had a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it, and then raised their hands not to terminate it. It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!”

If Haley, Trump, or another MAGA Republican takes power and repeals the Affordable Care Act – as many as 135 million people with preexisting conditions could have their protections ripped away from them.

Center for American Progress: “According to new estimates from the Center for American Progress, 135 million people under age 65, or about half of nonelderly people, have a preexisting condition that an insurer could use to discriminate against them if they ever sought coverage through the individual market in the absence of ACA protections.”

KFF Poll: “While partisans are divided over the importance of keeping many provisions of the ACA in place, majorities of Democrats [88 percent], Republicans [62 percent], and independents [73 percent say it is 'very important' to continue each of these protections for people with pre-existing conditions.”

Repealing the Affordable Care Act is extremely unpopular and would be devastating for the millions of Americans who depend on it.

Jon Favreau: “If Trump wins, 40 million people could lose their health care, and insurance companies would get to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. If Biden wins, that…won’t happen.”

Washington Post: “But what’s clear is that an effort to ‘terminate’ Obamacare is not something Americans are pining for. Not only were the GOP’s efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare during Trump’s term historically unpopular, but the law also appears to have gotten more popular since then. … And when politicians talk of ending health insurance for tens of millions of Americans, dropping coverage of preexisting conditions and cutting Obamacare’s Medicaid funding, things get even dicier.”

KFF Poll: “64% believe it is “very important” insurance companies continue to be prohibited from charging sick people more – including 55% of Republicans.” 

NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll: “Thirteen years after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, more than eight in ten Americans (83%) either agree or strongly agree that all Americans have a basic right to healthcare coverage.”

Bryan Bennett: “Per our October @NavigatorSurvey research, repealing the ACA (and January 6) remain the top concerns about Trump’s first term as president”