President Trump has joined other Republicans in making a self-defeating attack on “Medicare for all” based around the premise that it would destroy traditional Medicare.

In a USA Today op-ed, Trump wrote that as a candidate, he “made a solemn promise to our great seniors to protect Medicare. That is why I am fighting so hard against the Democrats’ plan that would eviscerate Medicare. Democrats have already harmed seniors by slashing Medicare by more than $800 billion over 10 years to pay for Obamacare. Likewise, Democrats would gut Medicare with their planned government takeover of American health care.”

As I have detailed previously, this increasingly popular line of attack, taken up with short-term political calculations in mind, will backfire on conservatives in the long run and actually make socialized healthcare more likely.