GLOVES OFF

Joe Biden Accuses Pete Buttigieg of ‘Stealing’ His Health Care Plan

Buttigieg has leapt into first place in some recent Iowa polls, and the former VP seems ready to go on the offensive.

Joe Biden has accused his Democratic presidential rival Pete Buttigieg of “stealing” his health-care policy plans after the South Bend mayor leapt into first place in some recent Iowa polls.. The former vice president is proposing an extension of the Affordable Care Act, adding a “public option” that would allow individuals to opt in to a government plan while keeping the existing role of private insurers. Buttigieg has coined the phrase “Medicare for all who want it” to describe his own plans, which Biden clearly feels is a bit too familiar. “He stole it,” Biden told reporters in Iowa, adding that he would have been condemned if he’d copied someone else’s policies. “What would you have done to me? You’d have torn my ears off,” he said. Buttigieg’s campaign declined to comment on the accusation but pointed a Reuters reporter to statements from Buttigieg about “Medicare for all who want it” said ahead of Biden’s current presidential campaign.