Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) said he stood with Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) Tuesday on her call to abolish private health insurance in favor of a single-payer system.
Harris commented "let's eliminate all of that" with regard to private health care plans on Monday during a CNN town hall in Iowa, while endorsing a "Medicare for all" program. However, the same night Brown told MSNBC he agreed with her, CNN reported a Harris adviser said she would be open to more moderate reform plans that would not remove the private health care industry.
While Harris has formally launched a presidential campaign, Brown has only floated the idea of running for president, touting his ability to win Rust Belt states that Democrats lost in 2016. "Hardball" host Chris Matthews, an enthusiastic progressive, told Brown he thought he and Harris could make a good potential 2020 team.
"I'm not going to comment on a ticket. I'll just say I like Kamala," Brown said. "I was amazed that somebody called her un-American today for a proposal she had on health insurance, one of the billionaire candidates for president, so I stand with her on that. We've stood together on a number of issues, and I think very highly of her."
The billionaire Brown referred to was former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who has earned the wrath of liberals across the country for mulling a run for president in 2020 as a "centrist independent." They fear he could siphon votes away from the Democratic nominee and hand the election to President Donald Trump.