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In early May 2017, an image macro went viral via social media bearing a pronouncement on health care attributed to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who supposedly said (grammatical anomalies in the original): The statement had currency because efforts by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill (popularly known as Trumpcare) repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (popularly known as Obamacare) were, at the time, reaching a fever pitch. The statement also echoed remarks made by a prominent backer of Trumpcare, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Alabama), who had gone on record as saying that people who lead good lives are healthier and less prone than others to have pre-existing health conditions. And it tapped into a popular conception of Mike Pence as someone who is overly pious and preachy. The quote was entirely fabricated, however. We found no public record of Pence's ever saying such a thing. Despite the inclusion of what appears at first glance to be a Fox News logo on the image macro, Fox News wasn't connected in any way with its circulation. The item first appeared on the Facebook page Fox News The Facebook Page, which is dedicated to lampooning Fox News and conservative politics in general: While it's true that Pence was instrumental in crafting a version of the health care legislation allowing states to waive certain provisions such as barring insurers from raising rates on people with pre-existing conditions, he has not suggested that people with such conditions would be better off going to church.
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