Former Maryland Governor John Delaney's comments on Medicare for All were not well received on Sunday.
Delaney, who is one of the 20-plus candidates campaigning for the Democratic Party nomination in the 2020 presidential election, was booed by a crowd gathered at the California Democratic Convention event in San Francisco when he said Medicare for All is "actually not a good policy."
"Medicare for All may sound good, but it's actually not good policy, nor is it good politics," he told the crowd, immediately drawing a chorus of boos.
"We should have universal health care, but it shouldn't be the kind of health care that kicks 150 million Americans off their health care. That's not smart policy. I want everyone to have health care, but it's got to be a plan that works for every American," Delaney continued over the crowd.
Hours after his speech, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined in to add her thoughts on Delaney's comments, writing on Twitter, "Since there's so many people running for President (& not enough for Senate), instead of obsessing over who's a 'frontrunner,' maybe we can start w some general eliminations. This awful, untrue line got boo'ed for a full minute. John Delaney, thank you but please sashay away."
Ocasio-Cortez didn't stop there, writing in another tweet, "✅ Medicare for All IS sound policy - one may disagree w/ it, but plenty of other countries have single payer + better outcomes than the US
✅ M4A IS good politics - it polls VERY well in swing states
✅ 'Third-Way' (aka lobbyist-backed Dems) WILL lose the presidency to Trump."
The self-named Democratic Socialist then retweeted a video from Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal saying that her fellow congresswoman "had already taken everyone to school" on Medicare for All.
Medicare For All, like climate change policies, has become one of the largest issues for Ocasio-Cortez and she has previously spoken out about the differences in the insurance she could receive as a private citizen versus what she has as a member of Congress.
"In my on-boarding to Congress, I get to pick my insurance plan. As a waitress, I had to pay more than TWICE what I'd pay as a member of Congress," she tweeted in December, weeks prior to being sworn in to office. "It's frustrating that Congressmembers would deny other people affordability that they themselves enjoy. Time for #MedicareForAll."
In another tweet, she wrote, "People don't want overly complicated choice between pricey, low-quality plans. We want an affordable solution that covers our needs, like the rest of the modern world.
Medicare for All:
- Single-payer system
- Covers physical, mental, & dental care
- 0 due *at point of service*"
Speaking to CNN host Chris Cuomo in February, she said that Republicans and some Democrats would spend money on tax cuts and war but thought providing affordable health care was too expensive.
"Every other developed nation in the world does this, why not America?" she said. "That is the question we need to be asking. We have done these things before. We write unlimited checks for war, we just wrote a 2 trillion dollar check for that tax cut, the GOP tax cut, and nobody asked those folks how are they gonna pay for it. So my question is why is it that our pockets are only empty when it comes to education and healthcare for our kids. Why are our pockets only empty when it comes to talking about 100 percent renewable energy that is going to save this planet and allow our children to thrive? We only have empty pockets when it comes to the morally right things to do, but when it comes to tax cuts for billionaires and unlimited war, we seem to be able to invent that money very easily. And to me, it belies a lack of moral priorities that people have right now, especially [in the] Republican Party."
Delaney is not currently polling among the top contenders in a crowded Democratic field. Most polls show former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders as the top two candidates, with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and California Senator Kamala Harris polling among the top five in several polls.
Sanders first championed Medicare for All during his 2016 presidential campaign.
