WASHINGTON — President Obama's top White House adviser during the health care debate of 2009 took to Twitter Sunday to call MIT economist Jonathan Gruber "stupid."
As one who worked hard to make ACA and its benefits clear, let me say: if you looked up "stupid" in dictionary, you'd find Gruber's picture.
Axelrod was senior strategist for Obama's 2012 campaign when Gruber — often cited as the "architect" of both Obamacare and its Massachusetts predecessor, Romneycare — starred in an Obama campaign video meant to tie the two health care plans together and weaken Romney's attacks on the Affordable Care Act.
Axelrod was also a top official at the White House in 2009 when Gruber was paid nearly $400,000 by the administration for a modeling system aimed at determining the economic costs and benefits of Obamacare.
Gruber has come under fire from Obamacare opponents recently for past comments he made about the legislative process that passed the Affordable Care Act in which he called voters "stupid." Gruber apologized for the remarks.
Gruber declined to comment on the record.
Axelrod didn't expand on the tweet in an email exchange with BuzzFeed News.
"Seems self-explanatory," he wrote.
This post has been updated to include comments from Axelrod.