Protestors erupted into screams and boos at a town hall Saturday when a Republican official in New Port Richey, Florida brought up the old erroneous talking point that the Affordable Care Act mandates “death panels.”
Bill Akins, secretary of the Pasco county Republican executive committee, tried to explain his issue with Obamacare, using a line many might remember from the early days of the law, a false claim that it would create “death panels.” It did not go down well with town hall attendees.
“Here’s the problems I have with The Affordable Health Care Act. Number one, there is a provision in there that anyone over the age of 74 has to go before what is effectively a death panel,” he said to screams from the crowd. “Yes, they do. Yes, they do. It’s in there, folks.”
As protestors booed and yelled, he called them “children.” An unnamed woman spoke up at the town hall, saying that it is “unconscionable” for Akins to use this debunked line.
“I am 77 years old and I think it’s unconscionable for this politician to tell me that at 74, I will be facing death panels,” she said. “Wrong, wrong, wrong.”
As the crowd cheered, Akins screamed “I’m on your side!”
This was just the latest in a series of town halls for Republican lawmakers that drew an overwhelming amount of protestors, making their voices heard on everything from their concerns about the Trump administration to the Affordable Care Act.
Watch below via CNN:
