2020 presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders told CNN’s Jake Tapper that his question about healthcare was a “Republican talking point.”
Sanders, 77, made the comment at the beginning of Tuesday night’s presidential debate. The first question of the debate centered on the issue of healthcare and it sparked numerous fights among individual candidates.
Tapper, 50, was a campaign press secretary for Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, a Democrat who went on to represent Pennsylvania’s 13th District. and later became mother-in-law to former first daughter Chelsea Clinton. He also worked for Handgun Control, which later became the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
“Sen. Warren at the beginning of the night said that Democrats cannot bring — cannot win the White House with small ideas and spinelessness. In the last debate, she said politicians who are not supporting ‘Medicare for all’ simply lack the will to fight for it. You do not support ‘Medicare for all.’ Is Sen. Warren correct? Do you just not lack the will to fight for it?” Tapper asked.
“Let me clear up one thing. If people talk about having insurance, there are millions of people who have insurance that can’t go to the doctor and when they come out of the hospital, they go bankrupt. All right?” Sanders said, which led to a round of applause from the audience.
“What I am talking about and others up here are talking about is no deductibles and no co-payments and Jake, your question is a Republican talking point,” he continued. “At the end of the day and by the way, and by the way, by the way, the healthcare industry will be advertising tonight on this program.”
Sanders and former Maryland Rep. John Delaney got into a heated back-and-forth over their stances on government-run healthcare.
