The Post-Gazette’s April 4 editorial “What’s the Plan?” is truly mind boggling, in that it was somehow able to compliment Donald Trump at least three times. It praises him for a tweet on health care, on which he immediately reversed himself—when his party basically reminded him it has nothing to offer on health care.
It praised Mr. Trump’s instincts to step up and address the issue—even though his “secret plan on health care” won’t be revealed until and unless he gets re-elected. (Much like Nixon’s infamous “secret plan to end the war.”)
The editorial asks what’s good about Obamacare, then correctly details practically the whole law. It rightly criticizes the Republicans for favoring judicial activism to strike down Obamacare. But it ends with another big juicy compliment for Mr. Trump: “The president has done his party and the American public a favor by getting back into the fight over national health care . . .” This ignores the fact that Mr. Trump instantly adopted the Republicans’ “wait until after the 2020 election” stance.
The editorial is highly critical of the Republican Party’s obstructionism, which the president has now accepted. A true leader would change his party’s stance, not the other way around. Yet the Post-Gazette continues to praise Mr. Trump for a single late-night or early-morning tweet. It requires some truly convoluted logic to continue to support this president.
Richard Restivo
North Fayette
