Ben Shapiro Compares Needing Healthcare to Wanting a Nice Couch

Image by Wikimedia

By Daniel J. Solomon January 9, 2017

Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro invited a wave of rebuke by comparing needing health care to wanting a nice piece of furniture.

Shapiro was responding to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who has called healthcare a right and denounced President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans’ plan to repeal Obamacare.

You heard it here first folks—health is an accessory in the same way high-quality, hand-stitched, Napa leather couches are. Thanks Ben! pic.twitter.com/DoR6MDxrkL

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)
I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Email(Required)

— Lucas Grillos (@LGrillos) January 8, 2017

Shapiro’s tweet garnered angry responses from people condemning his remarks as heartless.

Image by twitter

Although Shapiro often supports positions taken by President-elect Donald Trump, he does occasionally criticize him. Early Monday Shapiro called out Trumps “hackneyed defense” after Meryl Streep denounced him at the Golden Globes Sunday.

Disappointed in Trump’s Streep tweetstorm. Began strong, fell apart with hackneyed defense of indefensible disabled journalist imitation.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 9, 2017

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO