Rep Jason Chaffetz Is Being Roasted For His Remarks On Choosing Between Healthcare And An iPhone

The swift reaction to the long overdue release of Trump’s proposed Obamacare replacement plan details on Monday evening has so far not been very kind, leaving House Republicans scrambling to put the spin on it, that — no, it’s not nearly as bad as it sounds (which is admittedly pretty bad). One such attempt at damage control came from Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz who visited CNN’s New Day Tuesday morning to discuss the plan with anchor Alisyn Camerota, but only succeeded in demonstrating just how woefully out of touch top Republicans are when it comes to the healthcare needs of millions of Americans.

In an astounding soundbite, Chaffetz compared healthcare coverage to getting a new iPhone, telling Camerota, “So maybe rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and they want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest in their own health care. They’ve got to make those decisions themselves.”

Ah, yes. Indeed. Nevermind that in the modern world one needs a smartphone to have a job, as most jobs require constant communication, the ability to access email and the internet, etc. Really, it just boils down to people choosing between smartphones and doctors. So simple when you put it that way. Except that Chaffetz’s analogy is anything but simple, and aside the rich irony of him uploading a photo from his appearance to his “Jason in the House” Instagram account, Twitter was quick to jump on him to point out the flaws in his logic.

https://twitter.com/JessieLahrr/status/839136382912184320

https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/839104420952563713

https://twitter.com/ShirlHerbert/status/839124010889785344

https://twitter.com/owillis/status/839120432200626176

https://twitter.com/coreyspring/status/839116527987273729

So this last one doesn’t actually have anything to do with his healthcare remarks, but I think we’ve all been thinking it, anyway: