Former (sigh) Vice President Joe Biden spoke at a rally to defend Obamacare in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, and, being Joe Biden, he took on a couple other major issues as well. Most importantly, Biden laid out just what’s wrong with Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare:
“Eliminating the Affordable Care Act means eliminating an awful lot of things that people badly need in return for what?” Biden asked. “So the .9 percent in taxes for people making over 250,000 couples can be returned to them? So drug companies and insurance companies and medical device companies can benefit?”
Biden also had two things to say that a lot of people will be happy to hear:
“I’m not going anywhere,” Biden said. “This bill isn’t going to pass.”
Though his focus was on health care, Biden also spoke briefly on a couple other hot-button topics.
Biden declined to comment on an FBI probe of possible links between Russia and associates of President Donald Trump, but said "the whole notion that there's still this romance with Putin" was worrisome.
Asked about Trump’s insistence that former President Obama had him wiretapped, Biden asked “Are you joking? Are you serious?” Unfortunately it is a serious question, because, as he also noted, Trump should “understand that the president's words matter a great deal”—so even Trump’s most outlandish claims are going to draw serious questions.
Welcome back, Joe. Please don’t stop talking.