News

Sanders to Trump: ‘We’ll quote you’ on support for universal healthcare

by Nikita Vladimirov - 05/04/17 9:23 PM ET

Trump: Australia has better health care than U.S. (they have universal health care)

Watch the reaction from @BernieSanders to @chrislhayes pic.twitter.com/zYF8NsGKF0

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 5, 2017

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) seized on President Trump’s compliment of Australia’s universal healthcare system on Thursday, saying Democrats will remind the president of the comments from the Senate floor.

Sanders weighed in on the comments during an interview on MSNBC after Trump remarked that Australia has “better healthcare than we do” during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

“That’s great. Let’s take a look at the Australian healthcare system. Maybe he wants to take a look at the Canadian healthcare system or systems throughout Europe,” Sanders, an advocate of a single-payer system, told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.

{mosads}”Thank you, Mr. President. Let us move to a Medicare-for-all system that does what every other major country on earth does — guarantee healthcare to all people at a fraction of the cost per-capita that we spend. Thank you, Mr. President. We’ll quote you on the floor of the Senate,” he added.

Thank you Mr. Trump for admitting that universal health care is the better way to go. I’ll be sure to quote you on the floor of the Senate. pic.twitter.com/GTFRHiKw6k

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) May 5, 2017

The Australian healthcare model consists of both private and public markets, with the private sector working alongside a publicly funded universal healthcare system.

Trump admitted Thursday evening during his trip to New York that the GOP’s healthcare bill “could change a little bit” after the House narrowly passed it earlier in the day.

Trump has voiced confidence that the legislation will ultimately reach his desk for a signature, though the bill now moves to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future.

Tags Bernie Sanders