ABC anchor cuts Trump off in the middle of a stream of lies to deliver a brutal fact-check

ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos cut off President Donald Trump on Tuesday during an egregious string of lies about health care at an event with voters.

Trump had been responding to a question about his health care policy. Since he knows almost nothing about health care policy and cares even less, he launched into a meaningless and obfuscatory rant about how his administration will supposedly protect pre-existing conditions.

"What we're is we're going to be doing a health care plan protecting people with pre-existing conditions," he said. "We're going to be doing a health care plan very strongly and protect people with pre-existing conditions. I will say this: They [Democrats] will not do that. Because they have socialized —"

At that point, Stephanopoulos felt compelled to cut in and correct Trump's lies.

"I have to stop you there—" he began.

"George, they have socialized medicine," Trump continued.

"I just have to stop you there just on a couple points," Stephanopoulos said. "Number one, Joe Biden has run against Medicare for All in the primaries. But much more importantly, Obamacare guaranteed people with pre-existing conditions could buy insurance. Guaranteed they could buy it at the same price as everyone else. Guaranteed a package of essential benefits. Guaranteed that insurance companies couldn't put a lifetime limit on those benefits."

He continued: "You fought to appeal Obamacare. You're arguing in the Supreme Court right now to strike it down. That would do away with pre-existing conditions."

"No," Trump said, with irritation in his voice. "So that we can do new health care."

"But you've been promising a new health care plan!" Stephanopoulos shot back. "I interviewed you in June of last year. You said the health care plan would come in two weeks. You told Chris Wallace this summer it would come in three weeks. You promised an existing order on pre-existing conditions."

"I have it already! I have it already," Trump said. He does not, in fact, have a health care plan, and the fact that he has lied about it continuously since becoming president indicates that he has no intention of ever developing one.

"But you've been trying to strike down pre-existing conditions," the host responded.

"It doesn't matter," Trump said. "I have it already, and it's a much better plan for you. And it's a much better plan."

Again, he doesn't have a plan.

Trump also tried to interject that he got rid of the individual mandate of Obamacare, which was gutted in the GOP's 2017 tax bill. But that had nothing to do with actually providing coverage to people who need it now and was irrelevant.

Overall, Stephanopoulos's performance was exemplary — he knew the relevant facts, and he challenged Trump when he lied and misled. It's exactly the type of journalism that is needed for voters to make informed decisions in November.

Watch the clip below: