Trump praises AOC about VA healthcare — before completely contradicting her

Donald Trump has praised Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter over comments she made last week about the Department of Veterans Affairs — while simultaneously undermining her stance on the issue of privatising health care for US veterans. The president claimed the agency “is doing great” thanks to his administration in a tweet, seemingly undermining the fundamental point the 29-year-old lawmaker was making during a town hall event in New York. Mr Trump supported at least a portion of the congresswoman’s statements surrounding veterans’ health care in America, writing Wednesday, “Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is correct, the VA is not broken, it is doing great. But that is only because of the Trump administration.” Ms Ocasio-Cortez was speaking out against efforts by the Republican Party to privatise the VA — the second largest federal department following Defence — when she said at a town hall event in New York, “When it comes to the VA, all I can think of is that classic refrain that my parents always told me growing up, which is that, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’” “That is their opening approach that we have seen when it comes to privatisation,” she continued. “the idea that this thing that isn’t broken, this thing that provides the highest quality care to our veterans somehow needs to be fixed, optimised, tinkered with, until — until we don’t even recognise it anymore.”More follows...

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