The co-hosts of ABC's "The View" appeared encouraged Wednesday about protests that have occurred at town halls around the country hosted by congressional Republicans while debating the merits of Obamacare.
"Right now, people are feeling the pressure in D.C. to give in, pass people through, do all this stuff," co-host Sara Haines said. "These are the people that are going to vote them back in or not. At one of the town halls there was a 'it's your last term, it's your last term' [chant]. I think it's a good and real reminder that at the end of the day their power comes from those votes."
The segment began with co-host Sunny Hostin questioning why people are upset about former President Obama's landmark health care legislation.
"What was interesting to me, though, was the notion that Obamacare is a bad thing," Hostin said. "We have to remember that for the past 100 years, presidents have been trying to push forward universal health care. It started with FDR and it just hasn't been able to work, and President Obama was the first president in 100 years that was able to make it work."
Hostin added that she does not understand why Republicans in Congress want to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
"I don't understand why Republicans are saying, 'Repeal, repeal, repeal,' and that it's too expensive, because if you look at it, eight out of 10 Americans can get health insurance for a hundred dollars or less per month," Hostin said. "Let's talk about the real numbers."
"I'm going to be honest with you," Jedediah Bila responded. "If Obamacare was really popular among people, Hillary Clinton would be president right now."
Hostin and co-host Whoopi Goldberg did not like that response, and both of them insisted it was not true.
"Why are you saying it's so expensive?" Hostin asked.
"Because for a lot of people their premiums have gone up. Mine went up. I speak to people every day that say, 'I can't afford my health insurance,'" Bila said.
Later in the segment, Bila continued talking about Obamacare costs and argued that if the prices were going down, there would not be so many people complaining. Hostin disagreed with Bila, but Haines came to the latter's defense and talked about her parents' health care experience.
"I don't know about the numbers, but I have to agree that I have heard a lot of people that say the quality of what they were getting is down, because I know my parents in Florida had struggled sometimes with their doctors, were taken away from them and they're older," Haines said.
At the end of the segment, Goldberg dismissed the claim by many Republicans that some of the protesters attending town halls hosted by congressional Republicans are being paid to protest.
"Just for all of those folks who keep saying that people are paid to go do this: people are no paid to do this. People are pissed off and you have to recognize this," Goldberg said.