John Delaney to Ocasio-Cortez: Democratic Party should be tolerant of all ideas
Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, a 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful, responded to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “sashay away” comment saying the Democratic Party should be more accepting of ideas.
“I think it's intolerant, that’s how it makes me feel,” he told FOX Business’ Charles Payne. “I think the Democratic Party should be tolerant of the battle of ideas, that’s what a Democracy is about. We shouldn’t be kind of for these purity tests.”
Ocasio-Cortez, the freshman Democrat from New York, blasted Delaney following his remarks that Medicare-for-all is “actually not good policy nor is it good politics.”
“This awful, untrue line got boo’ed for a full minute,” she tweeted on Sunday. “John Delaney, thank you but please sashay away.”
Delaney was met with loud boos from the crowd attending the California Democratic Convention that lasted for a full minute for criticizing the health care plan proposal supported by independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and other progressive Democrats.
"What we need as Democrats is to build an economy that works, but it's got to be with smart policies," Delaney said on Sunday. "Medicare for-all may sound good, but it's actually not good policy nor is it good politics."
Sanders' Medicare-for-all proposal would expand coverage of the government-run program to all Americans and eliminate the role of the private insurance market.
Delaney said the elimination of private health insurance is not a foregone conclusion.
“One hundred fifty million Americans have private insurance, two-thirds of them like it,” he said.
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Delaney said his plan provides Americans with health care as a “right of citizenship.”
“I don’t see why we have to be for the politics of subtraction meaning I gotta take something from you. We should be for the politics of addition,” he said. "Take the folks who are uninsured and make sure they have insurance.”