Mike Pence Does All He Can to Avoid Being Honest About the GOP's Latest Healthcare Monstrosity

Vice President Mike Pence gave a string of spectacularly shifty responses on Thursday to one of the most basic questions about the GOP’s latest attempt to unravel Obamacare.

Pence was on—what else?—Fox & Friends to discuss the charmingly named Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson bill, which is very, very bad. Host Ainsley Earhardt asked Pence a simple question: Could he guarantee that the bill would protect coverage for preexisting conditions?

Pence’s answer, as flagged by CNN’s David Wright: uh…

Pence expanded on that answer—which roughly translates to “federalism+???=healthcare greatness!”—when he stopped by CBS This Morning on Thursday. And by “expanded,” I mean he dodged three separate, direct questions about whether or not he thought the bill’s provisions that allow states to grant insurers the right to charge people more if they have preexisting conditions were fair—or even if he wanted them to exist (which they totally do in the current legislation).

“The whole concept of Graham-Cassidy is built on the American principle of federalism,” Pence burbled in one typical answer, adding, “We’ll have some states that go in one direction and some states that’ll go another direction.”

It’s almost as if Mike Pence would rather not honestly discuss what this bill does! Wonder why that could be.

Also, Thomas Jefferson never said that thing Pence said he said.