Vice President Mike Pence promised Americans that “the Obamacare nightmare is about to end” during a speech Saturday in Kentucky as he sought to sell the House Republican leadership’s controversial Affordable Care Act replacement proposal.

Although the Kentuckians gathered at Louisville’s Harshaw Trane proved to be an enthusiastic audience, Pence had no easy task in front of him as he attempted to quell misgivings about the Republican Obamacare replacement plan. While Democrats are loath to witness former President Obama’s signature health care overhaul face uprooting, many of Congress’ most conservative Republicans are outraged and frustrated with the bill, saying that it does not fulfill the party’s promise of a complete repeal. Pence, however, insisted that President Donald Trump was honoring his campaign promise.

“Obamacare has failed the people of Kentucky, Obamacare has failed the people of America and Obamacare must go!”

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“Most importantly of all, the top priority the president gave us: to work with members of Congress and make sure that the Obamacare nightmare is about to end,” Pence said. “Obamacare has failed the people of Kentucky, Obamacare has failed the people of America, and Obamacare must go!”

Although Pence fully endorsed the Republican bill and reaffirmed both his commitment and the president’s commitment to ending the “Obamacare nightmare,” most of the vice president’s speech was focused on reiterating Obamacare’s failures and touting its necessary disintegration instead of addressing Republicans’ specific concerns about the bill.

“Virtually every promise of Obamacare has been broken,” Pence said while he touted Kentucky as “a textbook example of Obamacare’s failures.” “Here in the Bluegrass State, premiums skyrocketed by an average of 24 percent last year, with some plans spiking by 47 percent … Nearly half of the state only has one health insurer to choose from. And next year, Humana, headquartered right here in Louisville, is pulling out of Kentucky’s Obamacare exchange. And Medicaid here in Kentucky is threatening to bankrupt this state. Folks, this just can’t continue, and I promise you it won’t.”

“They told us the cost of health insurance would go down. Not true. They told us if you like your doctors, you can keep them. Not true. They told us if you like your health plan, you can keep it. Not true,” Pence added. “The truth is, the American people are struggling under Obamacare everyday.”

The Republican-crafted bill, which was revealed Monday, would nix several of Obamacare’s most harmful provisions in its first of three phases. The second phase purportedly involves the Department of Health and Human Services reviewing the ACA’s numerous regulations and getting rid of the burdensome ones, while the third phase promises to enact insurance reforms.

“For us to seize this opportunity to repeal and replace Obamacare once and for all, we need every Republican in Congress, and we are counting on Kentucky,” Pence said. “President Trump and I know, at the end of the day, after a good a vigorous debate, we know Kentucky will be there, and we will repeal and replace Obamacare once and for all.”

“Despite some of the fear-mongering by those on the liberal Left, I want to assure the people of Kentucky who might be looking on this morning: We’re going to work with the Congress and work with our agency at Health and Human Services, and we’re going to have an orderly transition to a better health-care system that makes affordable, high-quality health insurance available for every American,” Pence added.”

But both Pence and Trump most likely face an uphill battle when it comes to convincing conservative about the merits of the House Republican’s solution.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) decried the bill as a “terrible, rotten, no-good Obamacare Lite” solution during an interview Tuesday on “The Laura Ingraham Show.”

“So when you’re talking about unity, Obamacare Lite will divide us. I promise you there’s enough conservatives to stop this,” Paul said.

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, who aligned himself more with Paul and his criticisms of the bill, was in attendance at Pence’s speech. Speaking to reporters Friday, Bevin said that Paul “has ideas of things he thinks need to be a lot stronger.”

“[Paul’s] not as impressed with what has currently been offered as some who have currently offered it. Truth be told, I’m not either, so I’m with him. I think there are things that need to be done,” Bevin had said.

“Of course there is disagreement as to what we should do with it,” Bevin added Saturday. “This is America. Americans have opinions. There is a catastrophe that has been hoisted upon the American people, known as the Affordable Care Act.”

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Trump addressed Paul’s concerns in a tweet Tuesday, saying, “I feel sure that my friend @RandPaul will come along with the new and great health care program because he knows Obamacare is a disaster!” The president also noted the new bill would be ripe for “review and negotiation” as Republicans continue to consider it.

But Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), another ardent opponent of the House Republican leadership’s legislation, worried that Trump’s support of the measure may prove to be “a weight around his neck” because it doesn’t completely fulfill his campaign promise of “repeal and replace.”

“[Trump] said this bill is the first step. We’re going to negotiate … So I still see plenty of room for negotiation, and I hope he does because I don’t want him owning it,” Brat said Wednesday on “The Laura Ingraham Show.”

Just a few hours before Pence’s plug for the House bill, the president tweeted to encourage Republicans to rally around the measure.

“We are making great progress with health care. Obamacare is imploding and will only get worse. Republicans coming together to get job done!” Trump tweeted.

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