Buttigieg: ‘Medicare for all,’ free college tuition are ‘questionable on their merits’

White House hopeful Pete Buttigieg questioned the legitimacy and popularity of some of the more progressive plans laid out by his fellow 2020 candidates.

The South Bend, Ind., mayor told CNN’s David Axelrod Saturday on “The Axe Files” that Medicare for All and free college tuition plans, championed by progressives in the race, are “questionable on their merits” and “pretty far out from where Americans are.”

“I do think that we should be realistic about what’s going to work. And just flipping a switch and saying we’re instantly going to have everybody on Medicare just like that — isn’t realistic,” Buttigieg told CNN. {mosads}

“I think that when it comes to a lot of these policies that we’re being pushed to do — say that we can pay down the last penny of tuition for any student including the child of a billionaire. These are things that are questionable on their merits and of course also pretty far out … from where Americans are,” he added.  

Buttigieg is center left to some of the more progressives candidates in the crowded field. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), two top-tier candidates vying for the party nomination, support a Medicare for All proposal. 

Fellow candidates Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) also raised their hands during the first round of debates when asked if they support eliminating private health insurance. 

Buttigieg supports a “Medicare for All Who Want It” plan, as a pathway to Medicare for All. 

Sanders and Warren have also lead the field in proposing progressive plans to cover college tuition and forgive student loans. 

According to Buttigieg’s campaign website, he supports debt-free college for lower income families through a state-federal partnership that makes public tuition affordable or free at lower incomes and large increases in Pell Grants to provide basic living expenses.