Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) blasted 2020 Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney for remarks Sunday at the California Democratic Convention where he said “Medicare for All” is “actually not good policy.”
Delaney, who was booed by the crowd for his comments, said, “Medicare for All may sound good, but it’s actually not good policy nor is it good politics.”
{mosads}Ocasio-Cortez, a freshman lawmaker who has championed the progressive policy, said in a post on Twitter Sunday that it is time for Delaney to “sashay away.”
“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,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “This awful, untrue line got boo’ed for a full minute. John Delaney, thank you but please sashay away.”
Delaney is not a front-runner for the 2020 Democratic nomination, and polling does not have the former Maryland congressman in the top tier of the crowded primary field.
Several 2020 candidates have shown support for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) Medicare for All policy proposal that he first championed during his 2016 presidential campaign.
“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,” Delaney said Sunday between boos. “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, appearing unfazed by the booing crowd, added, “This is called the battle of ideas, my friends.”