WASHINGTON – Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison took to Twitter Sunday night to condemn America’s “cruel” healthcare system following a hate crime in Portland that left two men dead and one in the hospital.
“Our healthcare system is so cruel, one of the heroes of the Portland stabbing has to crowdfund his lifesaving medical care,” Ellison tweeted.
The stabbing referred to in Ellison’s tweet took place Friday night in Portland, Oregon. Two young Muslim girls were on a light-rail train when a man started harassing them. Three men stepped in to help the girls, ending with two of them being stabbed to death. The third man, 21-year-old Micah David-Cole Fletcher, was critically injured in the attack and is in the hospital.
Following the attack, friends of Fletcher started a crowdfund through the popular fundraising website GoFundMe to help cover medical expenses. They quickly reached their original goal of $100,000. At time of publication, they have reached over $230,000 in fundraising.
Ellison took to Twitter to voice his disgust over the need to turn to fundraising in Fletcher’s situation. However, Ellison lashing out against the current healthcare system has some people scratching their heads.
In 2010, then President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, into law. The Republicans have spent the last seven years pushing back on the healthcare system, calling for a repeal and replace of the ACA.
It was not until earlier this month that House Republicans succeeded in passing a health care reform bill known as the American Health Care Act. However, it has yet to be taken up in the Senate. Therefore, Obamacare is still the law of the land. Any attempt by Ellison to blame the GOP for current health care problems has people raising eyebrows.
Ellison has since deleted the tweet.
