Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren has admitted she benefits from Obamacare, seconds after arguing publicly against it.
“I think that universal health care is a bad decision. I think it's a bad choice,” Ms Lahren said in a recent appearance at Politicon, adding: “I do believe in repealing Obamacare and also replacing it.”
The former TV host debated comedian Chelsea Handler about the healthcare law at the new political convention in California.
Ms Handler, a vocal Hillary Clinton supporter during the 2016 election, pushed back at Ms Lahren’s argument, saying universal healthcare was about “human decency”.
At one point, she asked the conservative commentator: “So do you have a health care plan or no?”
“Well, luckily I’m 24, so I am still on my parents’,” Ms Lahren said.
The comment was met with laughter and boos from audience members, some of whom started yelling, “Thanks Obama!”
Young people’s ability to stay on their parent’s health insurance was a key provision of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The law raised the cut-off age from 19 to 26.
“To say that there are things from Obamacare that are not positive, that’s not true,” Ms Lahren relented.
She added: “I do believe that allowing people to say on their parents’ health insurance until they're 26 – I do believe that is a worthwhile conversation to have.”
Ms Lahren, a prominent Trump supporter, explained that she is opposed to government regulation and instead supports a “free market” system. Still, she acknowledged that some things – such as providing healthcare for young people or those with pre-existing conditions – are valuable government functions.
“Most Republicans, most conservatives, most Trump supporters don’t believe that every tenant of Obamacare is bad,” she said.
The Affordable Care Act gained the support of the majority of Americans for the first time this year, after Republicans began legislating in earnest to repeal and replace it. In April, 55 per cent of Americans – and 17 per cent of Republicans – supported the law.
