‘Why Didn’t They Burst Into Laughter?’: Karoline Leavitt Makes Bonkers Claim Using ‘MAGA Math’ That Left Reporters Stunned
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is at it again, making a bonkers claim that President Donald Trump is going to lower drug prices by “200, 300, 100 percent.” It’s the same “Maga Math” the president has repeatedly used, except he has bragged that he would reduce prices by a staggering “1,200, 1,300, 1,400, 1,500 percent.”
A reporter asked Leavitt at a White House briefing last week if the president was willing to share more on his flexibility to negotiate with Democrats on expiring Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies that are a major sticking point as the government shutdown heads into a second week.
“Is he willing to say specifically what he would like and when?”
To be clear, more than eight months into his second term, Trump doesn’t seem to have a health care plan. He’s made clear in his “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed and signed into law this summer that his only intention is to gut the Affordable Care Act, a signature achievement by former President Barack Obama and something the Republicans have been trying to undo for 15 years, and to cut government health programs significantly.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was an unprecedented law that gave millions of Americans options for affordable medical insurance by making changes to Medicaid and creating ACA insurance marketplaces.
Sticking to Trump’s playbook, Leavitt sidestepped the questions and offered up vague generalities about prescription drugs.
“Look, the president is definitely committed to fixing and improving our health care system,” she insisted without providing any details or a plan of any sort.
“You saw it again last week when he had one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world coming into the Oval Office and promising to lower drug prices by 200, 300, 100 percent, in many cases for various types of drugs for American patients,” she crowed, which has nothing to do with the ACA or health care insurance in the U.S.
“That is a huge fix to a broken system that has been ripping off the American people for far too long,” Leavitt pronounced.
Then she shifted, using her usual dodge-and-distract move, “The President’s very committed to this, but right now we need to reopen the federal government.”
Social media didn’t hesitate in calling her out on her fuzzy math, and many wondered why the press isn’t doing the same and holding her feet to the fire.
X user DJ Omega Mvp isn’t buying Leavitt’s falsehoods. “Can someone just ask the obvious follow-ups? ‘How?’, ‘When?’, ‘Where’s his proposal?’ He’s been in office nearly 5 years total without a healthcare plan.”
“This is the obvious follow-up. Either that or ‘do you know how percentages work?’” this user pointed out on X.
“I am stunned that nobody publicly corrected her!” another chimed in.
“Why is the media just sitting there in silence? Why can’t they just say what we all want to say… WHAT THE F-CK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?” this X user demanded.
Others called out her lies.
“This is an objectively dishonest statement. It is mathematically impossible to lower prices by more than a hundred percent. Fifth graders know this,” X user Greg Cantwell commented in a post.
“I believe I learned this in 3rd grade, it involved a pie,” another concurred.
Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” makes deep cuts to Medicaid and other health care programs and will lead to benefit losses, increased paperwork requirements and rural hospital closures, not to mention running up the national debt by trillions of dollars in order to extend tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.
Trump announced a deal with Pfizer on Sept. 30 to sell its drugs directly to consumers at discounted prices. He also struck a deal Friday with drug company AstraZeneca. The discounted prices are slated to be available through a website operated by the federal government called TrumpRx.gov, scheduled to launch in January 2026.