'Dr. Trump': MAGA lawmaker makes Freudian slip in praising Trump’s health care 'plan'

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) let loose what some might call a Freudian slip Wednesday while praising President Donald Trump’s so-called health care “plan” to give Americans money to buy their own health insurance, mistakenly giving Trump the honorary title of “doctor.”

“If we care about people getting health care, let's drive down the cost of health care, [and] I have a bill that does that,” Scott said during an appearance on Fox Business.

“You put the money into what Dr. Trump – Dr. Trump – President Trump said, you put the money into an HSA and let individuals buy their own policies, buy their own health care… I call them 'Trump Freedom Accounts;' give it to them, let them make their decisions. I'm optimistic we'll get something done because people are fed up, people are mad.”

Republicans have struggled to find solutions for the impending expiration of Biden-era subsidies for Obamacare recipients, which, if allowed to expire as they’re set to at the end of this year, will see an estimated 4 million Americans lose health insurance, and premiums for millions of Obamacare enrollees increase by 114%.

Debate around extending the subsidies was the impetus for the recent government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, with Democrats refusing to support any spending measure that didn’t include an extension to the subsidies. Democrats eventually folded in their demand, however, voting to end the government shutdown in exchange for a promise from GOP leadership that a vote would be held this month on extending the subsidies.

In early November, Trump first proposed his plan for ending the shutdown, which involved a multibillion-dollar payout directly to Americans as an alternative to extending the Obamacare subsidies. Reception to Trump’s proposal has been mixed, but has been praised by some of his most loyal supporters, Scott included.