WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney yesterday emerged from a family vacation with a revamped attack on President Obama’s health-care mandate.
“It’s a tax,” declared Romney.
That contradicted a top campaign adviser who on Monday infuriated Republican leaders by saying Romney — just like Obama — considered it a penalty, not a tax.
The former Massachusetts governor was back in sync with Republicans who have denounced ObamaCare as the “biggest tax hike in history” since the Supreme Court upheld the mandate to buy insurance by deeming it a tax.
“The Supreme Court has the final word and their final word is that ObamaCare is a tax. So it’s a tax,” Romney told CBS News. “That’s the final word.”
Romney, who has vowed to repeal ObamaCare if elected president, said he agreed with the dissenting justices who argued that it was unconstitutional.
“But the dissent lost. It’s in the minority,” he said.
Romney weighed in on the dispute over whether ObamaCare is a tax while vacationing at the family summer home Wolfeboro, NH, where he marched in a Fourth of July parade with his wife, Ann, their five sons and a bunch of their grandchildren.
“Happy Birthday, America!” Romney called out to parade watchers. “Get out and vote next year, this November, I mean!”
He was joined at the parade by New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, often mentioned as a possible pick as Romney’s vice-presidential running mate.
Romney was forced to explain his position on the ObamaCare mandate after top adviser Eric Fehrnstrom put him at odds with Republicans by saying he didn’t view it as a tax.
The campaign had been hesitant to call it a tax because Romney imposed a similar health-care law in Massachusetts and didn’t want to be accused of raising taxes there.