Bernie Sanders Blasts Joe Biden For ‘Sounding Like Donald Trump’ On Healthcare
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders attacked fellow candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday for Biden’s criticism of his health care plan, as well as the former vice president’s plans to expand the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with an optional public insurance program, as The Inquisitr reported.
Now, Sanders is continuing his attacks. As Mediaite reports, the Vermont senator spoke to The New York Times on Thursday and again criticized Biden’s plan, as well as his purported distortion of Sanders’ plan.
“I am disappointed, I have to say, in Joe, who is a friend of mine, really distorting what Medicare for All is about. And unfortunately, he is sounding like Donald Trump. He is sounding like the health care industry in that regard.”
Polls reveal that health care is one of the top priorities for Democrats. In particular, there is a focus on slashing costs and helping people with pre-existing conditions. Conversely, Trump and Republicans continue to threaten to dismantle the ACA, also known as Obamacare.
Sanders’ recent attack on Biden mirrors a statement by Jess McIntosh, a former Hillary Clinton senior adviser and current CNN analyst, who said that Biden was veering “dangerously close to using Republican talking points when talking about Medicare for All.”
“There was a lot of ‘Medicare as you know it will go away, seniors will be left with nothing,’ that sounds suspiciously like Donald Trump,” she said, adding that Biden’s approach to healthcare, and the language he is using likely won’t do him any favors when it comes to appealing to his Democratic base.
Who told these lies about Medicare for All?
?? Joe Biden
?? Donald Trump
?? Mitch McConnell
?? The CEO of UnitedHealthcareTake the quiz –> https://t.co/tNrS8SPmHO
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 16, 2019
Per The Inquisitr, progressive journalists were critical of Biden’s purportedly counter-factual claim that there isn’t enough time to implement Sanders’ Medicare for all.
Journalist Adam H. Johnson took to Twitter to attack Biden for “casually lying about a mystery wait period between ACA and Medicare for All where people are dying off without insurance for months.”
According to Sanders, the suggestion that people suffering from serious illnesses would have to wait during a transition period due to his plan is untrue. Others have pointed to Biden’s ties to lobbyists and donors, including Daniel Hilferty.
Hilferty is on the board of America’s Health Insurance Plans, which aims to fight the progressive push for socialized healthcare and makes regular donations to the Republican Party.
Vox reports that the healthcare industry has even created a lobbying coalition with the purpose of defeating Sanders’ proposal.
Regardless, Biden is still the Democratic front-runner, while Sanders appears to have lost ground in recent polls.
