WASHINGTON _ So is President Donald Trump really reverting to his former position favoring universal health care?
No, says the White House.
It was simple chit-chat, pleasantries spoken from one world leader to another when Trump told Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday night that "you have better health care than we do."
"He was simply being complimentary of the prime minister," said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy press secretary for the White House, during Friday's daily briefing with reporters.
The administration was forced to walk back the president's comments after liberals, including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, started claiming victory _ with a bit of a laugh _ and more than a few conservatives raised their eyebrows.
Australia offers a government-run system that runs parallel to the private system.
Trump has praised universal health care in the past, though he has more recently hewn to the more traditional Republican position that seeks to limit a government role.
On Thursday, Trump claimed an "unbelievable" victory when House Republicans narrowly passed a bill intended to repeal much of the Affordable Care Act.
It approved by the Senate, it would roll back the expansion of Medicaid, end mandated health care insurance coverage and, critics say, leave millions of Americans without health care insurance.
