Biden, Sanders spar over Medicare for All in virus fight

WASHINGTON • Mr Joe Biden and Mr Bernie Sanders sparred over how they would respond to the coronavirus in their first one-on-one debate, arguing about whether Medicare for All is the right solution to fight the health crisis as it explodes across the United States.

"We are the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people," Mr Sanders said, using the moment to make a sharp point about his signature policy proposal. He said all Americans should be able to get treatment when they are sick, regardless of their income.

Mr Biden pushed back against the idea of Medicare for All, saying Italy has a similar system and it has not stopped the crisis there.

"You have a single payer system in Italy," he said. "It doesn't work there. It has nothing to do with Medicare for All. That would not solve the problem at all." Italy, with the oldest population in Europe, as of yesterday had 1,809 deaths, an increase of 368 from Saturday, among more than 24,000 cases.

The candidates agreed that working people who lose their jobs because of shutdowns during the crisis should get financial support from the federal government.

Mr Biden said he believes there will need to be a "major, major, major bailout" in which "we do not reward corporations, we reward individuals who in fact are really put to the test".

They disagreed on what economic reforms should come in response to the pandemic and debated the effectiveness of the 2008 economic bailout, which Mr Biden supported and Mr Sanders did not.

"We need to stabilise the economy, but we can't repeat what we did in 2008," Mr Sanders said.

"Joe voted for that. I voted against it because we have got to do more than save the banks or the oil companies. Our job right now is to tell every working person in this country, no matter what your income is, you are not going to suffer as a result of this crisis over which you had no control."

Mr Biden defended his support of the bailout, which he said saved the economy, avoided a depression and helped the poor.

"Had those banks gone under, all those people would be in deep trouble," Mr Biden said. "All those little folks... would find themselves in a position where they would lose everything they had in that bank. Whether it was US$10 (S$14) or US$300 or a savings account. This was about saving an economy, and it did save the economy."

Sunday's debate, the first one-on-one debate between the two remaining contenders, was low-key compared with the group squabbles seen when as many as a dozen candidates crowded the stage in earlier settings.

But the tone was also sombre as the coronavirus crisis gripped America, with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention announcing that people should not gather in groups of more than 50.

Still, primaries will go ahead as planned today in Illinois, Ohio, Arizona and Florida. Mr Biden has a 21.5 percentage point lead nationally in the RealClearPolitics polling average and a nearly insurmountable lead in delegates to the nominating convention.

But Mr Sanders knows that staying in the race is one way to keep pushing his progressive agenda and potentially move the party to the left. It may be working. Earlier on Sunday, Mr Biden adopted a version of Mr Sanders's plan for tuition-free public college.

On the virus, Mr Biden urged the Trump administration to ramp up testing and quickly build temporary hospitals. "This is bigger than any one of us. This calls for a national rallying," Mr Biden said.

Mr Sanders agreed about the need for additional testing and hospital beds but also pointed to problems coming straight from President Donald Trump. "The first thing we've got to do, whether or not I'm president, is to shut this President up right now because he is undermining the doctors and the scientists who are trying to help the American people," Mr Sanders said. "It is unacceptable for him to be blabbering with unfactual information which is confusing the general public."

Officials in all four of today's primary states are counting on absentee and early voting to keep turnout up in the first round of balloting since people began avoiding public places out of fear of the virus.

Louisiana, Georgia and Wyoming have delayed their contests.

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