Pete Buttigieg calls 'Medicare for All' and free college plans 'questionable on their merits' [View all]

[brooklynite]

CNN

Washington (CNN)Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg weighed in on his opponents' plans to implement "Medicare for All" and free college tuition, calling them "questionable on their merits" and "pretty far out from where Americans are."

"I do think that we should be realistic about what's going to work. And just flipping a switch and saying we're instantly going to have everybody on Medicare just like that -- isn't realistic," the South Bend, Indiana, mayor said in an interview with CNN's David Axelrod slated to air Saturday night.

"I think that when it comes to a lot of these policies that we're being pushed to do -- say that we can pay down the last penny of tuition for any student including the child of a billionaire. These are things that are questionable on their merits and of course also pretty far out ... from where Americans are."

In the crowded Democratic field, a majority of candidates have said they support some form of a single-payer health care, but disagreement over how to achieve universal health care has come to the forefront both on the campaign trail and on the debate stage. Of the 20 candidates on the two debate stages during the first round of Democratic debates, just four raised their hands when asked who backed the elimination of private health insurance -- Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California, along with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.