Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who announced a 2020 presidential bid on Thursday, said some of his rivals in the crowded Democratic field are invoking nostalgia, while others are taking a “our big idea or no way” approach.
“Right now, we have a really talented, a really gifted, and a really hard-working, and hard-sacrificing field of Democratic candidates, many of them my personal friends,” Patrick said on “CBS This Morning” during his first televised interview after announcing his presidential bid.
{mosads}”But we seem to be migrating to on the one camp, sort of nostalgia. Let’s just get rid of the incumbent president, [and] we can go back to doing what we used to do, or it’s our big idea or no way,” he continued.
The comment appeared to be a reference toward former Vice President Joe Biden’s rhetoric about his time in the Obama administration, as well as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) progressive proposals, like “Medicare for All.”
Patrick was also asked during the appearance if he supports Medicare for All.
“No. Not in the terms we’ve been talking about,” he responded. “I do support a public option.”
Patrick told CBS that he was jumping into the 2020 race because he saw an opportunity for “big ideas” to bring Americans together.
“I admire and respect the candidates in the Democratic field,” he said in the video announcing his campaign. “But if the character of the candidates is an issue in every election, this time is about the character of the country.”
His announcement comes ahead of Friday’s deadline to register in the primary in New Hampshire, a state in which Patrick hopes to be competitive after serving two terms as governor of a neighboring state.
Patrick will likely face an uphill battle in catching up with the other candidates in terms of building his name recognition and in fundraising.