Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) today defended comments he made Monday that a sick woman should turn to a government program or charity for help with her medical bills, saying he was responding to the “immediacy” of her request.
When a woman told Cantor (R-VA) that her sick relative couldn’t get insurance to cover the removal of stomach tumors, Cantor told her to seek an “existing government program” or charity.
“No one in this country, given who we are, should ever be sitting without an option to go be addressed,” said Cantor, who has spoken out repeatedly against a public option.
Today, he said on MSNBC, “The way I responded, that was a constituent in desperate need. I was dealing with it in its immediacy, as if she was asking me for advice right here and now.”
Video after the jump.
He took a shot at blogs (such as TPM) which pointed out the hypocrisy of his “option” statement.
“Some of the hyperbole on blogs around this is very harmful to the discussion of what we’re trying to do here, which is reflective of the fact that none of us like the status quo,” Cantor said.
He also said his comments were similar to advice for the uninsured on the American Cancer Society web site, which does seem to be true.
