Former Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) has doubled down on his opposition to “Medicare for All,” taking a swing at two of his top-tier opponents in the Democratic primary: Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Warren confirmed her support for Sanders’s Medicare for All bill during Wednesday night’s debate, where she shared a stage with Delaney and eight other candidates.
{mosads}Delaney called Sanders’s universal health care plan, which he acknowledged about half of the Democratic field supports, a “disaster.”
“Sen. Warren — who has a plan for everything — but has outsourced health care to someone who isn’t even a Democrat,” Delaney said in a statement Thursday. “We should not allow Senator Sanders to hijack the Democratic Party and use it as a vessel for his socialist agenda.”
The Hill has reached out to the Warren and Sanders campaigns for comment.
Sanders will take the stage on Thursday, along with nine other candidates in the crowded field.
“I hope the moderators give Sen. Sanders an opportunity to reverse course on Medicare for All and support my plan, BetterCare,” Delaney said.
Delaney’s health care proposal would create a new public health care plan for Americans under the age of 65, and preserve traditional Medicare. It would also keep private insurance options.
Delaney was booed earlier this month at a California Democratic Convention for expressing a similar sentiment, telling voters Medicare for All is “actually not good policy.”
Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) weighed in after Delaney’s comments, suggesting the congressman “please sashay away.”