Did Trump say ‘everyone gets healthcare’ if Democrats win?

In mid-October, two weeks ahead of the midterm elections, people claimed U.S. President Donald Trump said that if Democrats win, “You’re going to be thrown into a system where everyone gets healthcare.”

For example, users shared the quote or a brief video clip on Facebook (archived), Threads (archived) and X (archived). Some Snopes readers also searched the website for information about the alleged quote.

Trump truly said that if Democrats win, “You’re going to be thrown into a system where everyone gets healthcare.” He made the remark months ahead of the 2024 election while urging voters not to vote for his opponent, Democratic then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Therefore we’ve rated this quote as correctly attributed to Trump.

Some posts wrongly showed “if Democrats win” as part of his direct quote, though the meaning was much the same. Also, he said “everybody,” not “everyone” — an insignificant difference.

Users reposting the quote or a video clip omitted some context from Trump’s comments, mainly that he appeared to be warning about Harris previously indicating, most notably during a June 2019 debate (at 20:14), that she supported abolishing private health insurance in favor of government-run plans. (She later walked back that comment, saying she misheard the question.)

Snopes emailed the White House to ask whether Trump still believed Democrats running in future elections might seek to abolish private health insurance. In response, White House spokesperson Allison Schuster sent a statement promoting Trump’s healthcare policies, claiming his administration “has lowered costs and enabled Americans to take control of their health.”

More of what Trump said

Trump made the “everybody gets healthcare” comment while delivering remarks about affordability at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf course on Aug. 15, 2024. During his speech, tables of groceries and displays about rising prices flanked his lectern.

Trump’s relevant remarks transpired as follows, with “she” referencing Harris (emphasis ours):

She cosponsored legislation to abolish very popular private health insurance, which 150 Americans rely on, dumping everyone onto inferior socialist government-run healthcare systems with rationing and deadly wait times while massively raising your taxes.

She wants to take away your private healthcare. There are many people in this country who spend a lot of money on private healthcare. It’s the best healthcare in the world, by the way. But they want to do it. They worked hard to make money. And they want to do it. Under her, you’re not going to have private healthcare plans anymore.

And you can be a wealthy person or a middle-income person, and you want to spend on a really good plan, better than a government plan could be, far better, and you’re not going to be allowed. You’re all going to be thrown into a communist system. It’s a communist system. You’re going to be thrown into a system where everybody gets healthcare. It’s, you wait for your doctor like 10 months, 12 months, 11 months. You gotta see some of these plans, how they work in other countries, it’s disgraceful. So, private healthcare is gone, she wants it out.

The above remarks begin at the 13:57 mark in this YouTube video.

For further reading, we previously reported what we know about Trump’s remarks comparing people to grass.

Sources