Pete Buttigieg agreed that Democratic presidential candidates who support “Medicare for all” would face an uphill race in the general election against President Trump.
Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, supports a type of Medicare for All system that allows people to keep their private insurance should they want it. But more progressive presidential candidates such as Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren support a complete single-payer system that forces everyone on to a government-run plan without a private option.
The mayor was asked if the alternative healthcare option is a viable one for a Democratic candidate going up against Trump during an interview on Morning Joe on Thursday.
“Certainly it would be a tough sell because the American people want that choice,” Buttigieg, a Democratic presidential candidate, answered. “By the way, that’s not just general election voters, as we make sure we reach out to moderates and try to pull Republicans across the aisle, but also Democratic voters. Democrats, as well, sitting at home, making healthcare decisions for our families, don’t want to have that option taken off the table.”
“The whole idea of ‘Medicare for all who want it’ is we create that public alternative and let you decide. If enough people decide that’s the right answer, then eventually it becomes Medicare for All, but there’s some humility in the approach here because we recognize that instead of Washington deciding whether and when people should switch, we let people make that decision for themselves,” he continued.
Buttigieg then confirmed he believes that taking away private insurance from unions in Rust Belt states would be a “poison pill” for the party in its effort to defeat Trump.
In September, the mayor called Warren “evasive” for her refusal to explain how her administration would pay for the implementation of her healthcare system.
