EXCLUSIVE: Harry Reid: 'Of Course' Medicare for All and Decriminalizing Border Crossings

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In a half-hour phone conversation with VICE News, Reid was blunt when asked if he thought supporting Medicare for All would be problematic in the 2020 general election.

“Of course it would be,” he said. “How are you going to get it passed?”

“I think that we should focus on improving Obamacare. We can do that — without bringing something that would be much harder to sell,” he said when asked his thoughts on the debate over whether Democrats should pursue Medicare for All or a more modest Obamacare expansion. “Improving Obamacare: People understand that. They would appreciate that. It locks in many important things.”

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“There are so many more important things to do. Decriminalizing border crossings is not something that should be at the top of the list. It should be way, way down at the bottom of the list,” Reid said, responding with a curt “of course it is” when asked if supporting that position would be politically problematic in the general election.

“There are so many more important things to do.”

“People want a fair immigration system. They don’t want an open-door invitation for everybody to come at once,” argued Reid.

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