Rep. Thomas Massie says Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber committed "the ultimate heresy" in the eyes of liberals, but was telling the gospel truth when he said the "stupidity of the American voter" helped pass the healthcare law.
"I went to MIT, as well as Jonathan Gruber. I hate to admit that, but Gruber is not stupid and he didn't make stupid comments," Massie — a Kentucky Republican and member of the House Oversight Committee who grilled Gruber on Tuesday said on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
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"He committed candor and that's why the Democrats, including ranking member [Rep. Elijah] Cummings [a Maryland Democrat], are so mad at him.
"He said what they were all thinking. That's the ultimate heresy up here and that much has been shown in this hearing."
Gruber, an economist, apologized to the committee for his remarks, saying, "In some cases, I made uninformed and glib comments about the political process behind healthcare reform. I am not an expert on politics and my tone implied that I was, which is wrong. In other cases, I simply made insulting and mean comments that are totally uncalled for."
"I’m not buying his apology. How can you say you were uninformed when you went to the White House 21 times and you spoke directly with the president? He was very much informed," Massie told Steve Malzberg.
"In fact, the crime that he committed with the liberals up here is the ultimately heresy. He committed candor. He pulled back the curtain and he let the public know how all this junk is passed.
"That's how he upset the liberals and the Democrats and that's why he had, what compelled him to come to our Oversight Committee today."
During Gruber's appearance before the committee, Massie asked him if he'd had any ethics training at MIT or Harvard University.
"He's got a 17-page resume and I didn't see ethics training on there and he receives federal money," Massie said.
"Then I asked him an ethical question, under what circumstances is it ethical to deceive somebody for their own benefit? He couldn't think of one so I suggested maybe your children, maybe you could withhold information from your children.
"He agreed with that and I said, Mr. Gruber, my constituents are not your children. They pay your salary and that's how he offended all the constituents in my district as he's treating them like children while they're paying his salary."
Gruber also denied that he was a so-called "architect" of the Affordable Care Act, a statement challenged by House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa, a California Republican.
"Chairman Issa read him a quote from his book cover where he called himself the architect of Obamacare and the foremost adviser," Massie said.
"Chairman Issa asked him if he stood by that and he said it's in my book I stand by it. His direct role was to control healthcare costs."