2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg labeled fellow candidate Elizabeth Warren “extremely evasive” when it comes to discussing the details of her “Medicare for all” plan.
The Massachusetts senator has shied away from answering questions specifically about whether or not middle-class taxes would go up under her administration, and was most recently confronted on the issue during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont support a single-payer “Medicare for all” system.
Buttigeig, who supports a “Medicare for all” system that includes private insurance as well, was asked about her unwillingness to answer the questions about her health care plan during a Thursday afternoon interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“Senator Warren is known for being straightforward and was extremely evasive when asked that question, and we’ve seen that repeatedly. I think that if you are proud of your plan and it’s the right plan, you should defend it in straightforward terms,” Buttigieg said of Warren’s proposal. ‘It’s puzzling that when everybody knows the answer to that question of whether her plan and Senator Sanders’ plan will raise middle class taxes is yes.”
“Why wouldn’t you say so and then explain why you think it’s the better way forward?” he went on. “Our plan does not require raising middle class taxes. It does create a way for everybody to be covered, and I think that’s what most Americans want. Look, people are used to Washington politicians not giving straight answers to simple questions, but at a time like this on an issue this important, that’s exactly what we need.”
Tapper then asked Buttigieg to differentiate his plan from former Vice President Joe Biden’s and he answered that “I don’t think it’s enough to simply build” on Obamacare.
[Also read: Biden, Warren, and Sanders spar in first debate featuring front-runners]
