Donald Trump seems to believe that the GOP tax bill has killed Obamacare. It hasn't.

Pres. Trump on repeal of individual mandate in tax bill: "When the individual mandate is being repealed, that means Obamacare is being repealed...Obamacare has been repealed in this bill." https://t.co/8qXJjj5j9V pic.twitter.com/ThnXHuECJS

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 20, 2017

Courtesy of New York Magazine:  

Almost none of this is true. Indeed, it reveals the opposite. Trump recognizes that he has no chance to repeal Obamacare, so he is instead pretending to have killed the law that his base loathes (but which the country as a whole likes quite a bit). 

Most of Obamacare remains in place. That includes such things as reforms that have helped hold down medical inflation, the expansion of Medicaid to cover the poor, subsidies for individuals to buy insurance, and regulations to prevent insurers from cherry-picking the healthy and excluding the sick. “When the individual mandate is being repealed, that means Obamacare is being repealed. Because they get their money from the individual mandate,” Trump “explains.” 

It is possible he thinks this is true. It isn’t. The law is primarily financed by other taxes. It is correct that repealing the individual mandate will impair the effectiveness of the marketplaces that sell insurance to people who can’t get coverage through their employer. That will make premiums more expensive, and possibly drive insurers out of some markets. States that want to have a highly functioning marketplace will be able to impose a state-level mandate, though, an outcome that could make insurance cheaper in blue states than red ones.

My favorite part of this is how smugly self satisfied Trump looks as he spews his bullshit.

However believe it or not this is not the most awkward statement made by Republicans after they passed the GOP tax bill.

Beating him out by a mile was Orrin Hatch's oral gratification of Donald Trump right out in public.

Here's the transcript of Sen. Orrin Hatch's effusive speech about Trump: pic.twitter.com/fVda0dLoGL

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 20, 2017

Damn, that is hard to read.

But still that has NOTHING on Mike Pence who essentially prayed at the altar of Donald Trump. 

Good Lord, you need to watch this. After Ben Carson's Prayer, Mike Pence actually delivered a prayer of thanks to Trump. Must watch. pic.twitter.com/sAq9OQnQT9

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 20, 2017

"You shall have no other gods before Me."

"You shall not worship false idols."

I can't remember where I read it, but it seemed important.

Perhaps Mike Pence needs to go back to church and get a little Biblical tune up. 

Apparently Ivanka Trump has inspired a cult of Chinese admirers. Update!

Goddess Ivanka with her very first worshiper.

Courtesy of the Daily Mail: 

Her father's brand may be struggling for popularity in the US, but Ivanka Trump is cultivating a cult following in China. 

An online fan club on the website Weibo, which is similar to Twitter, even refers to the president's daughter as 'Goddess Ivanka'. 

NBC News reports the page with the same title has about 12,000 followers, many of whom are effusive in their praise for the 35-year-old. 

Hu Xingdou, a Beijing professor, told the network much of Ivanka Trump's popularity comes from people thinking she is supportive of China. 

'Most people in China love Ivanka because of her friendly gestures towards the Chinese people,' Xingdou said. 

'Ivanka is an important bridge during this period of uncertainties in China-US relations.' 

Seriously?

I swear that Trump has people so freaked out that they will cling to any possibility that somebody can rein him in.

However as John Oliver pointed out over the weekend, it is unlikely that Ivanka is that person.
Yeah let's face it the only thing that can rein Donald Trump in is a conviction for treason and some much needed prison time.

Hopefully that is what looms in his future.

Update: Apparently the Germans are not quite as gullible as the Chinese.

This is what happened when Ivanka attempted to defend her father during a  W20 conference in Germany.

Ivanka gets booed and hissed by audience when she says her father is a"tremendous champion of supporting families."

— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) April 25, 2017

The crowd audibly rumbled, booed when Ivanka mentioned her father's support of women.

— Emily Jane Fox (@emilyjanefox) April 25, 2017

Well that seems like a more rational response to Trump's little apologist.