Former White House chief of staff and current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) got a little heated when asked if he wished he had still been in Washington D.C. when healthcare.gov had its worst moments.
Emanuel’s comments came in a new Question and Answer interview with The New Republic’s Isaac Chotiner. The exchange is below. Emanuel is “RE” and Chotiner is “IC”:
IC: When the Obamacare website wasn’t working properly, did you want to be in Washington trying to fix it?
RE: You gotta be kidding. You get a freebie question for the ridiculousness of that question.
IC: I was asking about your competitive instinct. You say you like to fix things.
RE: [Gets up and starts walking around the office.] That goes down as one of the more intriguing questions I have ever had. Did I wish I was in Washington to fix a website? Let me answer that. I have a single-word answer. No. Please do not edit out the sarcasm of that answer.
IC: Don’t worry, it is staying.
RE: I don’t want it to be missed on your readers.
The Obama administration has been cheerful about the progress Obamacare and the Healthcare.gov website have made recently though. Supporters of the law have noted despite the early problems with the website over 7 million people have signed up for private health insurance coverage under Obamacare.
