Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend was on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday, and the mayor said Democrats need to get more comfortable talking about freedom. He says the discussion has to be about more than freedom from issues, like regulation and government.
“When we talk about freedom, I think Democrats need to get more comfortable getting into that kind of vocabulary,” he said. “Conservatives care a lot about one kind of freedom, and it’s ‘freedom from.’ Freedom from government, freedom from regulation. Certainly in my lifetime there are many things, besides government, that can make you unfree.”
He was asked about his stance on healthcare in the wake of controversial comments made by Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris of California last week. Harris said she believes in doing away with private health insurance companies in an effort to expand access to health insurance.
Buttigieg, who said he is for a “single-payer” health insurance system, said private insurance companies should still be allowed to play a role in the countries healthcare system, whatever system that ends up being.
“I studied in the UK, where’s not only single-payer, but nationalized medicine, which we are not calling for,” Buttigeig said. “Even there there is a role for the private sector. I just don’t believe leaving Americans to the tender mercies of corporations is the best way to organize the health sector in this country.”
He also acknowledged the leap he taking going from mayor of a Midwest city to the White House. Buttigieg announced his exploratory committee to look into a presidential run less than two weeks ago.