In advocating for House Republicans’ proposal to replace Obamacare on Monday, President Donald Trump compared it to former President Barack Obama himself: “When he left, people liked him.”

“The press is making it look so wonderful,” Trump said in a statement to a roundtable of legislators and insurance customers. “So that if we end it, everyone is going to say, ‘Oh, remember how great Obamacare used to be? Remember how wonderful it used to be? It was so great.’ It’s a little bit like President Obama. When he left, people liked him. When he was here, people didn’t like him so much. That’s the way life goes. That’s human nature.”

“The fact is, Obamacare is a disaster,” Trump continued. “And I say this to Republicans all the time. By repealing it, by getting rid of it, by ending it, everyone is going to say, ‘Oh it used to be so great.’ It wasn’t great.”

Trump said the press had begun reporting stories “about, this one gets so much and this one gets so much,” apparently referring to reports that individuals purchasing insurance on individual marketplaces were given subsidies under Obamacare that are much larger than the tax credits given to individuals, primarily according to age, under the Republicans plan.

Trump also said the Republican bill, which gets rid of Obamacare’s subsidies in 2020, would “take a while” to lower health care prices.

“More competition and less regulation will finally bring down the cost of care. And I think it will bring it down very significantly. Unfortunately, it takes a while to get there, because you have to let that marketplace kick in,” he said. “And it’s going to take a little while to get there. Once it does it’ll be a thing of beauty. I wish it didn’t take a year and two years, but that’s what’s going to happen, and the way it works. But we’re willing to go through that process. Working together, we’ll get the job done.”

Watch below via CNN:

