But if the A.H.C.A. stands as the chief policy distillation of Trumpism, then the central Democratic argument in 2018 and 2020 should be entirely clear: Trump is not a populist but just another pro-plutocracy Republican, and everything his party promised you on health care was a sham.
You don’t say?
Snark aside, a few observations:
- I am not sure the AHCA is a distillation of Trumpism, but is rather a distillation of the current state of the House GOP. It is Trumpism only in the sense that Trump doesn’t really care what is in the bill.
- I would like to point out that populism is really more a style of politics more than it is a promise of specific policy outcomes. Many politicians (and commentators) who use populist rhetoric and approaches often do not govern in a way that is commensurate to that rhetoric. (And in Trump’s case, I am not sure he knows the difference in any event).
- But yes: any promises about improving health care from Trump and the GOP has been a sham to date, and I don’t expect that to change.
