MSNBC host Ali Velshi endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I., Vt.) Medicare for All plan on Thursday after 2020 candidate John Delaney said the other candidates were all following Sanders on health care.
"That's a non-starter. I'm a Canadian and I believe that Senator Sanders's plan is the best one to bring our costs down because it's what most other developed countries have," Velshi said.
Delaney pushed back, saying that other countries had universal health care but not a single-payer system like Medicare for All.
"Medicare for All is a single-payer system," Delaney said. "No it's not," Velshi responded, "It's an insurance system."
Sanders has said his Medicare for All plan is a single-payer system, and the plan will eliminate private health insurance. In the first Democratic presidential debate on Wednesday, only New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) said they would eliminate private insurance.
"A bunch of people on the stage with me, Senator Warren, she outsourced her health care plan to Senator Sanders basically. They're all just following this person," Delaney said, adding that Sanders "isn't even a Democrat."
Sanders told MSNBC's Kasie Hunt on Wednesday, "Of course I'm a Democrat," though he filed for his 2024 re-election to the Senate as an independent in March.
Delaney did not get the chance to share the debate stage with Sanders, who will take part in the Thursday night debate.