Saying Quiet Part 'Really Loud,' Trump Admits He Hopes Supreme Court Kills ACA as Barrett Moves Closer to Confirmation

After Senate Republicans spent several days of hearings last week insisting that they're not expecting the Supreme Court to strike down the Affordable Care Act if Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed, President Donald Trump on Thursday undercut his party's messaging efforts by releasing a clip of his "60 Minutes" interview in which he clearly expresses his desire for the high court to invalidate the healthcare law.

"In the middle of a pandemic, Trump wants to throw tens millions of people off of health insurance, instead of expanding care."
--Sen. Bernie Sanders

"I hope that they end it... It'll be so good if they end it," Trump said, remarks progressive lawmakers and advocacy group immediately seized upon as further evidence that Republicans' goal of killing the ACA--and thus stripping insurance coverage and preexisting condition protections from millions of Americans--was one of the principal reasons behind their rush to confirm Barrett to the Supreme Court as quickly as possible.

"Senate Republicans who claim this was never about gutting healthcare are lying to you and Donald Trump just proved it," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in response to the president's comments, which were publicized just hours after Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee paved the way for a full Senate vote on Barrett's confirmation early next week.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted that "in the middle of a pandemic, Trump wants to throw tens millions of people off of health insurance, instead of expanding care."

"Do not let him get away with it," Sanders added. "We will vote in massive numbers and not only defeat him, but defeat him very badly."

Watch Trump's comments:

"Look at that, Trump says the quiet part out loud. Really loud," tweeted Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). "Senate Republicans, care to comment?"

The president posted the footage of his Tuesday interview with Lesley Stahl of CBS News--in violation of his agreement with the network--after complaining that Stahl was "biased" against him. Trump left the interview without participating in the traditional "walk-and-talk" segment and fired off an angry tweet threatening to release the clip.

Watch the 37-minute video Trump posted to his Facebook page:

During his comments on the ACA, Trump said he has a "fully developed" healthcare plan that is "going to be announced very soon"--a promise the president and members of his administration have made for months without following through.

"Once again, Donald Trump showed us that his only healthcare plan is his lawsuit, which would take away Americans' healthcare in the middle of an ever-worsening pandemic, one week after Election Day," tweeted advocacy group Protect Our Care, referring to a suit led by Republican attorneys general and backed by the Justice Department.

Potentially with the addition of Barrett--who has criticized past decisions upholding the ACA--the Supreme Court is set to begin hearing arguments in the case on November 10.