South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete ButtigiegPeter (Pete) Paul ButtigiegWarren defends, Buttigieg attacks in debate that shrank the field Five takeaways from the Democratic debate in Ohio New study: Full-scale ‘Medicare for All’ costs trillion over 10 years MORE (D) wrote in a tweet last year that he supported Medicare for All, a contrast to his attacks on the proposal at Tuesday night’s debate. 

“I, Pete Buttigieg, politician, do henceforth and forthwith declare, most affirmatively and indubitably, unto the ages, that I do favor Medicare for All, as I do favor any measure that would help get all Americans covered,” Buttigieg wrote in the 2018 tweet, which came in response to a question doubting whether he really supported the proposal for single-payer health insurance. 

In contrast, at Tuesday night’s debate, Buttigieg attacked his rival, Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann WarrenWarren defends, Buttigieg attacks in debate that shrank the field Five takeaways from the Democratic debate in Ohio New study: Full-scale ‘Medicare for All’ costs trillion over 10 years MORE (D-Mass.), for supporting Medicare for all. 

Buttigieg said Tuesday that his plan to create an optional government-run insurance option is “just better than Medicare for all, whether you want it or not,” a proposal he said would “obliterate private plans.”

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Warren backers pointed to Buttigieg’s tweet on Wednesday to accuse him of attacking her for a position he previously held himself. 

Asked about the tweet, a Buttigieg aide on Wednesday argued he had not changed his position, saying that he supports Medicare for All as an end-goal, but that he wants to get there on a “glide path” by allowing people to have a choice and opt into the government plan. 

“If private insurers are not able to offer something dramatically better, this public plan will create a natural glide-path to Medicare for All,” Buttigieg’s website states.  

The tweet from 2018, however, does not say anything about a glide path, instead endorsing “Medicare for All.” While the tweet does not use the phrase “single-payer,” the question he was responding to did. 

Buttigieg also appeared to defend single-payer in a February 2019 interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“What is Medicare for All? It’s a compromise,” Buttigieg said then. “In the UK, you’ve got national health care, that would be the true left wing position, the true right wing position is free for all, all corporate, and the compromise position is a single payer system where you have private doctors but a public payer.” 

“Buttigieg and Harris have both shifted their position on Medicare for All and proposed their own health care plans,” tweeted former aide to President Barack ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaIraq is not yet lost, but if we continue to ignore it, it soon will be Obama praises marathon runners Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei for ‘remarkable examples of humanity’s ability’ Each of us has a role in preventing veteran suicide MORE and “Pod Save America” host Jon Favreau on Wednesday in response to Buttigieg’s tweet. “And there can be perfectly legitimate reasons for that. The difference is, Harris hasn’t been openly attacking her old position. Trickier to pull off!”

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