Michael Moore: ‘I’m the Mainstream Now of the Democratic Party’

During a panel discussion Wednesday night following the 2020 Democratic presidential debate in Atlanta, filmmaker Michael Moore pushed back against MSNBC pundits for suggesting that a “moderate” candidate would be more likely to defeat President Donald Trump and said the majority of U.S. voters favor progressive solutions to the nation’s most pressing issues, from healthcare to the climate crisis.

“I am the center. I am the mainstream now of the Democratic Party. The majority of Americans agree with me and Bernie on all the issues,” Moore, who has endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders for president, said to the panel, which included MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid, former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, and political strategist and former Republican Steve Schmidt.

“Whether it’s healthcare for all, whether it’s climate change, minimum wage, mass incarceration. Go down the whole list,” continued Moore. “So the center is now more of these sorts of things. This is what we believe.”

Moore went on to call out former Vice President Joe Biden for claiming during the Atlanta debate that the U.S. public wants to cling to a private health insurance industry that places profits above the needs of patients.

“Says who? Are you actually talking to people about this?” Moore asked. “Yes, they want the assurance that whatever we have with the new Medicare for All is essentially just a transfer from what they have with their good union healthcare. Fine, but the average Democrat and the average American does not like the health insurance company. They hate Aetna, and Cigna, and UnitedHealthcare.”

“The healthcare industry has caused more pain and harm and anxiety for the American people than practically any other industry, and we should never side with candidates that say we’re going to keep this private profit-making thing going,” Moore said. “That’s not where the American people are at. They are fed up with this.”

Pointing to General Motors’ decision in September to cut off employee healthcare coverage during the United Auto Workers strike, Moore said it should be “illegal” to allow for-profit companies to eliminate workers’ health insurance on a whim.

Watch:

“We should never side with candidates that say we’re going to keep this private profit making thing going…We can never allow our health insurance to be in the hands of a private profit making company where they can end you tomorrow…That should be illegal.” @MMFlint #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/WgVkGdJNjQ

— Ԍεοϝϝ ? (@SpittingBack) November 21, 2019