As Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have inched closer and closer together in the polls, the attacks on everything from their health care platforms to their actual state of health have intensified. That seems like the obvious route for Hillary, who — after losing to the practically unknown Barack Obama in 2008 — can’t afford take her chances with her slim lead on Bernie.
After all, one of the most effective ways to wage battle is in the name of good health, both that of the American people and that of Sanders himself. That debate got a little bit thornier when Chelsea Clinton made headlines earlier this week for saying that Bernie would take away several key facets of the current health care system.
“[Bernie] wants to dismantle Obamacare, dismantle the CHIP program, dismantle Medicare, and dismantle private insurance. I don’t want to empower Republican governors to take away Medicaid, to take away health insurance for low-income and middle-income working Americans. And I think very much that’s what Sen. Sanders’ plan would do.”
Politifact jumped in on Hillary’s daughter’s claim and rated it “mostly false,” saying that the younger Clinton deceptively left out key safety nets in place to prevent states from denying health care and mischaracterized Bernie’s overall plan . On CNN Sunday, Sanders responded to these allegations by attempting to clarify his position.
“If you consider a Medicare premium (a) tax then that’s true, health care is expensive… We are eliminating private health insurance premiums (with the single-payer program) so you’re not going to have pay any. Medicare will be there for all people “
Hillary continued to defend Chelsea’s statements, saying that she was simply responding to a question she had been asked about health care. She also briefly touched on the medical records controversy, noting that she had been hounded to release her own before doing so last July. David Brock, who heads Clinton-affiliated Super PAC Correct the Record, was set to publicly demand that Sanders release his medical records , reported Politico .
That plan, however, was poorly received by the public, so much so that the Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta sent out a tweet asking Brock to “chill out.”
. @davidbrockdc : Chill out. We’re fighting on who would make a better President, not on who has a better Physical Fitness Test.
— John Podesta (@johnpodesta) January 17, 2016
Since the controversy has been stirred up over the Bernie’s medical records, his campaign has promised that such a release is coming before the Iowa caucus, and that Sanders is in good health. While appearing on Jake Tapper’s State of the Union Sunday, Bernie addressed these concerns and also subtly dragged Podesta and Hillary’s super PAC.
“First of all, David Brock is not a Clinton ally, he’s head of their super PAC — the super PAC that receives millions of dollars from wealthy people and special interests. Of course, we’re going to release our medical records. Thank God, I am very good healthy. We will get our medical records out the same way that Hillary has gotten them out.”
Appearing on the same program, Clinton addressed both the health care platform controversy and the call for a release of medical records. As she had done the same, she felt that it was fair for Sanders to be required to make the information public.
“I’ve released my medical records, and I remember being asked frequently to do so.”
Tune in to CNN Sunday night to see Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders square off on their health care platforms and medical records controversy.
[Image via Yana Paskova and Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]