Fox News' Ed Henry Hounds Josh Earnest On Obamacare Transparency

Fox News' Ed Henry Hounds Josh Earnest On Obamacare

Fox News' Ed Henry very bluntly asked Press Secretary Josh Earnest if the White House had "misled" the American people in order to pass the Affordable Care Act.

During a press briefing held in Myanmar Thursday, Henry immediately questioned Earnest on comments made by Jonathan Gruber, the Obamacare consultant who suggested that the "stupidity of the American voter" contributed to the passing of the bill.

"[Gruber] went on to say, quote, 'A lack of transparency was a huge political advantage for the President,' in terms of selling it to the American people," Henry said. "I thought it was just the opposite. Didn't the President promise unprecedented transparency. Why would one of the architects of the law suggest that you were misleading people?"

Earnest and Henry sparred for a bit, with Earnest saying that the Fox News correspondent "may have watched the video a few more times" than he had, and that Republicans were in fact the one's not being "transparent or even honest" about the ACA.

But when pressed on whether he "feels bad" about the suggestion that voter stupidity helped pass the bill, Earnest ultimately had the last word.

"I disagree vigorously with that assessment," he said. "I think the fact of the matter is this was a very difficult undertaking, but ultimately this is a law that has had significant benefits for millions of people that have been able to sign up through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act.”

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