Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders went after California Democratic Senator Kamala Harris on Monday after she flip-flopped on her support for a “Medicare for All” plan.
“I don’t go to the Hamptons to raise money from billionaires. If I ever visited there, I would tell them the same thing I have said for the last 30 years: We must pass a Medicare for All system to guarantee affordable health care for all, not just for those who can afford it,” Sanders said in a social media post.
I don’t go to the Hamptons to raise money from billionaires. If I ever visited there, I would tell them the same thing I have said for the last 30 years: We must pass a Medicare for All system to guarantee affordable health care for all, not just for those who can afford it.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 19, 2019
The 2020 candidate has been a consistent supporter of a single-payer health care system that would eliminate private insurance. (RELATED: Bernie Sanders Says ‘Health Care For All’ Will Require Tax Increases)
During a recent event in Iowa, Sanders told a worker that he would “absolutely” take away his union health care plan.
“Wouldn’t the Medicare health care plan…wouldn’t that take away our right to bargain for our — our medical benefits?” the man asked.
“Yeah, absolutely it would. It’s not a bad thing,” Sanders responded. (RELATED: Bernie Sanders: Medicare For All Would ‘Absolutely’ Cover Illegal Immigrants)
Kamala Harris earned Sanders’ ire after she recently told a group of supporters that she was not “comfortable” with supporting a Bernie-style health care system.
“I have not been comfortable with Bernie’s plan,” she told a group of big-money donors in the Hamptons over the weekend. She previously supported his plan.
Kamala Harris went to the Hamptons with huge donors and criticized @BernieSanders’ Medicare for All plan…the plan she co-sponsored. You can’t make this up. https://t.co/5rVlaqWwR5 pic.twitter.com/ZH3MAPDcph
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) August 19, 2019
In 2017, she cosponsored the Medicare for All bill, saying, “It’s not just about what is morally and ethically right, it also makes sense just from a fiscal standpoint.”