PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. _ Donald Trump on Tuesday seized upon President Bill Clinton's criticism of some of the fallout from President Barack Obama's signature health care law as "the craziest thing in the world."
Trump said Clinton was simply being honest when he said a day earlier that people who barely miss out on qualifying for health care subsidies are seeing their insurance premiums double and coverage slashed.
"He absolutely trashed President Obama's signature legislation," Trump told thousands of supporters in Prescott Valley, a desert town 90 minutes north of Phoenix. "I'll bet he went through hell last night. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Can you imagine what he went through after making that statement? He went through hell.
"Honestly, there have been many nights when he has gone through hell with Hillary Clinton," Trump added, continuing his recent line of attacks on the Clintons' marriage. "I want to thank him honestly for being honest."
Trump said that Bill Clinton was also reiterating what he has said throughout his campaign. Trump repeated his pledge that he would, on his first day as president, ask Congress to send him a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.
In his remarks Monday, Clinton said that the system worked fine for the elderly and the poor, but he said it created problems for people who barely miss out on qualifying for a subsidy.
"The people that are getting killed in this deal is small-business people and individuals who make just a little too much to get any of these subsidies," Clinton said while campaigning for his wife in Michigan.
"So you've got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have health care, and then the people who are out there busting it sometimes 60 hours a week wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half," Clinton said. "It's the craziest thing in the world."
The law has fallen short of some goals in part because of efforts by Republican elected officials in many states to block expansion of Medicaid and erect other barriers to insurance enrollment.
Clinton emphasized a day later that the legislation did a "world of good."
"We for the first time in our history at least are providing insurance to more than 90 percent of our people," he said at a rally in Ohio.
Hillary Clinton tried to strike a middle path: She praised the Affordable Care Act for its health insurance exchanges and coverage for preexisting conditions. But she acknowledged that it needed improvements, such as mechanisms to keep costs down. She did not disagree with her husband's remarks.
"I've been saying, we've got to fix what's broken and keep what works," Clinton told reporters in Harrisburg, Pa. "We're going to tackle it. We're going to fix it. It won't be easy. But it's a heck of a lot better than starting for scratch."
