DONALD TRUMP

Pence Blasts β€˜Failing' Obamacare at Pa. Event With Trump

The Trump campaign has hammered President Obama's health care law over double-digit premium increases and the candidate has promised to repeal and replace it if elected

Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence slammed President Obama's healthcare plan for "killing jobs" and destroying small businesses and promised Donald Trump will repeal and replace Obamacare if elected.

Citing skyrocketing premiums, Pence said Tuesday, "This government takeover of healthcare we call Obamacare is failing...The case has never been stronger for repeal."

He said Trump would "reform health insurance in America with the power of the free market" and empower consumers with information about the cost of their care. 

Pence was speaking in the Pennsylvania suburbs as part of a joint event with Trump where the duo was outlining their ticket's healthcare plan. Trump left the detailed criticisms of the program to Pence who delivered a lengthy takedown of the health law, highlighting the news that the cost of its premiums are rising.

"What good is a healthcare plan if you can’t afford to use it?” Pence asked.

Pence said Obamacare can only be repealed if Trump gets elected president and if Republicans get reelected in Congress. 

"The momentum is on our side," Pence said. "The latest polls have Donald Trump leading in the race for president of the U.S. Republicans across the country are coming home."

Trump said Hillary Clinton wants to expand Obamacare and if he becomes president, he'd immediately convene a special session of Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare 

Trump said Obamacare was "a catastrophe" and has to be replaced "very, very quickly." 

He said if it isn't replaced, "we will destroy American health care forever." 

Dr. Ben Carson, Trump's primary election rival, introduced the candidates.

The event was held in the Keystone Ballroom at King of Prussia's DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. Trump campaign is pushing for votes in the Philly suburbs, which are critical if they intend to defeat Clinton in the Keystone State. Another appearance scheduled Tuesday in central Pennsylvania by Pence was canceled. Pence was set to hold a rally Tuesday morning at Brubaker Farms in Mount Joy, but LNP newspapers reports that the event was canceled Monday so that Pence could join Trump in Montgomery County.

Westmoreland County Community College says on its website that Pence, the governor of Indiana, is scheduled to hold a rally there at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Trump is scheduled to appear at an evening rally in Eau Clare, Wisconsin.

Mike Brubaker, co-owner of Brubaker Farms, said campaign officials said there was a possibility that the rally there could be rescheduled in the week remaining before the Nov. 8 election. 

Later Tuesday, Trump urged voters who have had second thoughts about their presidential choice to recall their ballots and change their minds.

Trump told supporters in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, that Wisconsin is one of four states in which someone who voted early could potentially change it at a county clerk's office.

Trump said that voters who "are having a bad case of buyer's remorse" should change their ballot "if you think you made a mistake."

He said the four states that allow early ballots to be changed are Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

In Wisconsin, voters can change their minds up to three times. The deadline for doing so is Thursday. Changing votes is very rarely done, according to the Early Voting Information Center at Reed College.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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