Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet says he opposes Medicare for All, standing up to Sanders

Despite his daughter’s best efforts, as documented on Twitter, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet did not use his “inside voice” at Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate in Miami.

He drew from the same energy he tapped into during the fiery speech he made on the Senate floor against a government shutdown in January, when he criticized the so-called “crocodile tears” of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

Bennet grew emotional, his voice nearly hoarse, when he spoke out against President Donald Trump’s dream to build a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

He said the images of children separated from their parents reminded him of his mother, who was separated from her family during the Holocaust in Poland.

“The president has turned the border of the United States into a symbol of nativist hostility that the whole world is looking at, and what we should be referencing is the Statue of Liberty, which brought my parents to this country to begin with,” he said.

When Bennet and the nine other Democratic candidates were asked Thursday if they would decriminalize illegal immigration, he did not raise his hand in agreement.

He said he wanted to fix the migrant crisis by partnering with countries in Central America and South America.

Bennet stood strongly by his relatively moderate stance of maintaining the Affordable Care Act and eventually moving toward universal healthcare with a public option. He also stood up to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said the abolition of private insurance companies would work in the U.S. because it works in Canada.

“I have proposed getting to universal healthcare, which we need to do,” Bennet said. “I believe the way to do that is by finishing the work we started with Obamacare and creating a public option that every family and every person in America can make a choice for their family about whether they want a public option, which for them would be like having Medicare for All, or if they would like to keep their private insurance.”

Bennet said he wants to overhaul the “broken politics” in Washington, D.C. He has proposed overturning Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision that allowed unlimited political spending by corporations and organizations, and enacting a lifetime ban on members of Congress becoming lobbyists, while outlawing political gerrymandering.

Bennet previously served as the superintendent of Denver Public Schools and worked as managing director of Anschutz Investment Company.

He also served as chief of staff for John Hickenlooper when he was mayor of Denver. Hickenlooper is also now running for president, and appeared on stage with Bennet on Thursday. On climate change, Bennet wants to reach net-zero emissions no later than 2050 and build 10 million zero-emission jobs in 10 years.

He said the Democratic Party needs to build a “new era” in America by building a coalition to defeat President Trump.

“We have to restore our democracy at home,” he said. “We have a president who doesn’t believe in the rule of law... he believes in the corruption that he’s brought to Washington, D.C.”

This story was originally published June 27, 2019 at 11:46 PM.