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Obamacare really is like the Galaxy Note 7, says Trump campaign

Technically Incorrect: Mike Pence, Donald Trump's vice presidential nominee, insists that President Obama's joke about Samsung misfired.

2 min read

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.


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Another Samsung jokester.

Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

It was quite enough for Samsung that it's Galaxy Note 7 became the symbol of the exploding phone.

The company surely never thought that it would get dragged into something as embarrassing as the US presidential campaign.

President Barack Obama started it.

Last week, he mused in a speech that his Affordable Care Act was like a phone that needed updates. When a phone has bugs, the manufacturer fixes it and upgrades it, he said.

"Unless it catches fire. Then you pull it off the market," he added.

Yes, this was a Galaxy Note 7 joke.

It was a one-off, a throwaway. But on Tuesday, Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence leaped into the flames.

Pence was speaking in Philadelphia when he repeated the president's joke, reported the Daily Mail.

Oh, but then he added a twist.

After enunciating the "you pull it off the market" punch line, Pence added: "Well, what a coincidence, Mr. President. Because that's exactly what we're going to do with Obamacare. We're going to pull it off the market so it stops burning up our wallets."

I understand that, in some quarters, this is called a burn. And, indeed, some Obamacare premiums are rising dramatically.

For Samsung, however, to become a repeated punch line in politics is an angst it doesn't deserve. The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

It's also monstrously biased. These politicians are rigging the jokes against Samsung.

I appeal to speechwriters on both sides for fair and balanced content.

Surely the president, the Clinton campaign and the Trumpians can muster at least one decent joke about Apple .

Just how many dongles does Hillary Clinton need to connect her foundation to all her pay-for-play customers?

The Trump campaign is like the MacBook Pro. There's a lot of noise, but there's nothing really there.

Just giving you a start, speechwriters.