Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) admitted to a local radio station this week that if Republicans regain control of Congress in the 2020 elections, they will do what they failed to during the first two years of the Trump administration: repeal Obamacare.

In a Monday radio interview first flagged by the progressive blog Joe. My. God., Graham explained that the next election would be about health care repeal.

“This is what 2020 is about. If we can get the House back and keep our majority in the Senate, and President Trump wins re-election, I can promise you not only are we going to repeal Obamacare, we’re going to do it in a smart way where South Carolina will be the biggest winner,” Graham told host Joey Hudson.

Three Senate Republicans joined with every Senate Democrat to kill Trumpcare — a plan to repeal most of the provisions and protections of the popular Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, prior to the 2018 elections. Graham then pushed a Graham-Cassidy block grant bill — which would have given more money and authority to states that did not expand Medicaid — but that also died due to lack of majority support. Democrats, who vowed to preserve and improve Obamacare along with its patient protections — gained 40 seats to take control of the House in the midterm blue wave. They even picked up a Republican-held House seat in South Carolina.


Rather than learn the lessons of 2018, Graham made it clear that his party plans to return to the same playbook that failed a year ago.

Since then-President Barack Obama signed Obamacare into law in 2010, more than 25 million Americans have gained health insurance.

UPDATE: Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blasted Graham on Friday, tweeting: “Republicans are STILL trying to take away protections for people with pre-existing conditions and kick tens of millions off their health coverage.”