Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) accused Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Saturday of bowing to the left-wing Twitter mob while crafting their single-payer health insurance proposals.
“The question is, who should make the choice about what people’s insurance is,” Bennet told CNN’s Victor Blackwell during an appearance on “New Day Weekend.” “Should it be Bernie and Elizabeth, or should it be the American people? Clearly the American people think it should be the American people since only one third of Democrats support Elizabeth’s plan.”
“You know, we should not be going into this election nominating somebody who is genuflecting to the Twitter base of the Democratic Party,” he continued. “It is not focused on the living, breathing, human beings who all they want to know is if their kids’ education is not defined by the income their family has, that if you work hard you can make a decent living, and you can retire with security.”
I trust the American people to make their own decisions about their own healthcare coverage.
We can get to universal coverage with my Medicare-X public option plan without making private employer insurance illegal for 180 million Americans. pic.twitter.com/FjZm4PnvQs
— Michael Bennet (@MichaelBennet) November 16, 2019
The Colorado lawmaker noted that he agrees with former President Barack Obama who warned the Democratic presidential candidates on Friday to be aware of what voters actually want, especially when it comes to immigration and health care reform.
“The average American doesn’t think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it, and I think it’s important for us not to lose sight of that,” Obama told a group of wealthy Democratic donors at the Democracy Alliance gathering.
“There are a lot of persuadable voters and there are a lot of Democrats out there who just want to see things make sense. They just don’t want to see crazy stuff,” he continued. “They want to see things a little more fair, they want to see things a little more just, and how we approach that I think will be important.”
While the former president has largely remained silent during the 2020 election cycle, the remarks were seen by many as a veiled shot at Warren and Sanders, who have been vying for the far-left lane of the Democratic primary. Both progressive candidates have released Medicare for All proposals that would eliminate the entire private health insurance market in favor of a government-run plan, cost taxpayers tens of trillions of dollars, and remove 180 million Americans from their current insurance.
Bennet has been sounding the alarm on Americans’ distaste for a complete overhaul of the health insurance market, instead standing behind a plan titled “Medicare X,” which he introduced into the Senate with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) earlier in the year. The proposal would allow Americans to choose a public option, similar to Medicare, which would be offered alongside private insurance.
“This stuff is never going to pass, and I don’t know whether Elizabeth knows that or not,” Bennet said. “But I, as a progressive Democrat, I do not want us to spend the next 10 years in a losing battle for Medicare for All when what we need to be focused on is driving economic growth for everybody across this economy.”