Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet was on MSNBC Live on Friday for a wide ranging interview with host Katy Tur in an attempt to bring attention to his longshot presidential campaign. That Bennet has styled himself as one of the more pragmatic members of the field by refusing to support Medicare for All did not sit well with Tur, who pressed the Democratic hopeful from the left on the issue.
Towards the end of the interview, Tur questioned Bennet's reformist credentials, questioning if a "moderate" can actually fix what is wrong with the country:
Let me ask you this, because you and I have had conversations about campaign finance and the way that it has corrupted the system. What you are talking about right now it seems like you are saying that the democracy we are currently living in doesn't work, it is broken, which calls for foundational change. But you are not a foundational change candidate. Why are you not a candidate calling for Medicare for All like some of the other candidates? Why are you not a candidate coming out there and saying we need to fix Washington, and in order to fix it we have got to change it from the ground up? Why are you still so in the moderate wing?
Bennet rejected Tur's premise that only a far-left candidate who is running on Medicare for All can be a "foundational candidate," because "I know that's just an empty promise."
Tur still pressed Bennet from the left, "Why can Canada have it, why can the U.K. have it, why can't we have it?" Since fact-checking is all the rage in media circles these days, it should be pointed out that NHS waiting lists are at an all time high.
Bennet countered by saying, "Well, it is different from what we have -- from what Bernie Sanders' bill is to begin with, but there's an answer for that, which is we already have an existing health care system" and argued that Medicare for All is a losing proposition for Democrats before giving a truncated stump speech to finish off the segment.
Tur has repeatedly styled herself as someone who wants to clean up the mess in Washington, but she seems to believe the only way to do that is give politicians more power to control things they know nothing about.
Here is a transcript for the November 8 show:
MSNBC
MSNBC Live with Katy Tur
2:18 PM ET
KATY TUR: Let me ask you this, because you and I have had conversations about campaign finance and the way that it has corrupted the system. What you are talking about right now—
MICHAEL BENNET: Yes
TUR: -- it seems like you are saying that the democracy we are currently living in doesn't work, it is broken, which calls for foundational change.
BENNET: Yes
TUR: But you are not a foundational change candidate. Why are you not a candidate calling for Medicare for All like some of the other candidates? Why are you not a candidate coming out there and saying we need to fix Washington, and in order to fix it we have got to change it from the ground up? Why are you still so in the moderate wing?
BENNET: I do -- no, I do believe that. I actually believe I'm more of a foundational candidate than the ones that are offering Medicare for All.
TUR: Why?
BENNET: Because I know that's just an empty promise. It is just an empty promise.
TUR: Why can Canada have it, why can the UK have it, why can't we have it?
BENNET: Well, it is different from what we have -- from what Bernie Sanders' bill is to begin with, but there's an answer for that, which is we already have an existing health care system. We can decide that we're going to spend the next ten years fighting a losing battle for Medicare for All or we can fight to restore economic opportunity for people. We can fight on the climate front and we can lead the foundational change you’re talking about. I'm the only person in this race who has said that if I'm elected president I will go to every one of 50 states to lead an effort to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. That is foundational change. I believe we need to end partisan gerrymandering, that is foundational change. I believe we need to do so much more to ensure that every single person in every single election has the right to vote. What I don't believe is that if we put out a half-baked plan called Medicare for All that is not even paid for, and that if it were paid for would cost the same amount of revenue as 70% of all of the revenue the federal government will collect over the next ten years without dealing with the foundational stuff that you are talking about, then it is an empty promise and it is just politicians trying to galvanize their base, politicians trying to dig, you know create greater division, instead of in a clear-eyed way looking forward to saying how are we going to dig our way out of the mess we're in right now, because it is a mess and it’s not just Trump. He is a symptom of our problems, not the essential cause in my view.
TUR Senator.
BENNET: He certainly has made matters much worse.
TUR: Let's sit down and have this conversation in a longer format some time. Think we could have an interesting –
BENNET: Let me come any time.
TUR: You're welcome. Senator Michael Bennet, thank you for coming on. We appreciate it.BENNET: Thank you
