Schultz calls Harris’s call to get rid of health insurance industry ‘not American’

Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO who made waves this weekend after declaring he was “seriously considering” an independent presidential bid, slammed Sen. Kamala Harris’s (D-Calif.) proposal to eliminate private health insurance. 

“That’s not correct, that’s not American. What’s next? What industry are we going to abolish next?” he asked Tuesday on “CBS This Morning.”

{mosads}Harris, who officially launched her presidential campaign Sunday and is one of several candidates angling her appeal to the progressive wing of the party, made the proposal while pitching a “Medicare for all” bill she co-sponsored in the Senate.

“The idea is that everyone gets access to medical care, and you don’t have to go through the process of going through an insurance company, having them give you approval, going through the paperwork, all of the delay that may require,” she said Sunday in a CNN Town Hall. “Let’s eliminate all of that, let’s move on.” 

In which Jake asks Kamala Harris whether people would be able to keep their private insurance, if they prefer, under Medicare For All system — and she rejects that. “Let’s eliminate all of that. Let’s move on.” pic.twitter.com/A1AY2TOT4g

— Rebecca Buck (@RebeccaBuck) January 29, 2019

Schultz suggested the plan was evidence that each major political party is drifting to their respective extremes, created a void in the center he wished to fill.

“It’s far two extremes on both sides and the silent majority of America does not have a voice, and that’s the voice I want to give,” he said.

“The country and the American people are longing for and deserve leadership they can trust and a government that is working for them. That clearly has not been the case. And what I have offered the American people is simply an opportunity to hear my story and to provide an opportunity for the American people to say, ‘We don’t have to have two parties, there can be another choice.’”

Schultz’s announcement this weekend angered many Democrats who suggested that an independent bid would divide the Democratic vote and pave the way for President Trump’s reelection.