- Washington Free Beacon - https://freebeacon.com -

Clinton Ally Neera Tanden: Protecting Obamacare Is About 'Government Overreach'

Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress and a former Clinton adviser, said Sunday that protecting Obamacare is about "government overreach."

Tanden made the comment on CNN's "State of the Union" and was called out on it by a fellow panelist.

The panel was discussing the recent town halls held by Republican congressmen around the country, where many have turned out to protest the repeal of Obamacare. Congressional Republicans are currently working on legislation to introduce to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

One of the chief criticisms of Obamacare when it became law was that it was intrusive into the lives of American citizens and their health care plans.

"I think the town halls are really focused on the ACA [Affordable Care Act] and government overreach," Tanden said.

Former Republican Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli immediately called out Tanden's claim.

"This is amazing. I'm going to mark this day on my calendar. Government overreach, this is a problem now," Cuccinelli said, arguing it was hypocritical for the head of a liberal organization to be mentioning government overreach.

Tanden then claimed that her comment on government overreach was about President Donald Trump's travel ban. Tanden called it a "Muslim ban, a label Cuccinelli argued against, saying it misrepresents the president's executive order.