WASHINGTON — Rep. Darrell Issa asked Jonathan Gruber if he was a "successful stupid man" like Forrest Gump at a House Oversight Committee hearing Tuesday.
"Night before last I was at the Kennedy Center Honors, where they honored Tom Hanks. Famously Forrest Gump, the ultimate in successful stupid man," Issa, the chairman of the Oversight Committee, said. "Are you stupid?"
"I don't think so. No," Gruber said.
"Does MIT employ stupid people," Issa asked in a follow up question.
"Not to my knowledge," Gruber said.
Gruber is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist who worked on both Obamacare and Romneycare. Video of Gruber saying Americans were too "stupid" to understand Obamacare and that a lack of transparency helped pass the bill has recently become fodder for Republicans to rail against the president's signature healthcare law.