Republican nominee Donald Trump suggested that Bill Clinton went through “hell” with his wife and Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton on “many nights” during a speech today in Arizona.
Trump did not elaborate on his remarks, but they came right after mentioning that the former president called Obamacare the “craziest thing” during a speech in Flint, Mich. on Monday.
“At least he is honest…In the meantime, she wants to double down on Obamacare. I’ll bet he went through hell last night. Can you imagine?” said Trump, who was campaigning in Prescott Valley, Ariz. Tuesday night.
“He went through hell but you know honestly there have been many nights when he has gone through hell with Hillary in all fairness.”
On Monday, former president Clinton decried the rise of insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act, remarks that have been seized on by Trump and his surrogates and that the Clinton team said were taken out of context.
“You’ve got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have healthcare and then the people are out there busting it sometimes 60 hours a week wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half,” said President Clinton. “It’s the craziest thing in the world.”
Trump quoted these comments from the former president verbatim to the crowd Tuesday night.
In response to President Clinton’s comments, the White House came to the defense of the program this afternoon, with Press Secretary Josh Earnest saying that President Obama is “quite proud of the accomplishment” of the legislation, but added the caveat that the President acknowledges “there are some things that could be done to further strengthen the law.”
Earnest added that “of course” the administration wishes the former president wouldn’t have used those words to describe the president’s signature healthcare plan.
“It’s not exactly clear to me what argument he was making, and so I’ll let him and his team explain that,” Earnest said.
ABC’s Arlette Saenz contributed reporting.