Cruz Pulls out a Map During Obamacare Debate With Sanders

By Jack Phillips
February 8, 2017 Last Updated: February 8, 2017
Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz faced off in a debate over Obamacare hosted by CNN on Feb. 7, 2017. (Win McNamee/Getty Images; Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

During a debate between Senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders over the fate of Obamacare, Cruz pulled out a map.

Cruz, a Republican from Texas, said that in approximately 70 percent of counties in the United States, consumers can only choose between either one or two health insurance plans under the Affordable Health Care Act.

“It’s interesting, you look at this map, this also very much looks like the electoral map that elected Donald Trump,” Cruz said.

“It’s really quite striking that the communities that have been hammered by this disaster of a law said, ‘Enough already.'”

He called for more options for American consumers.

Cruz later said: “Rights mean you have a right for government not to mess with you, for government not to do things with you.”

Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, said that Obamacare is a step in the right direction toward a single-payer health care system. “Under Ted’s idea all of that is gone, you are on your own,” Sanders said.

But he noted that more work needs to be done. “What kind of craziness is this?” he said. “We are the wealthiest country in the history of the world.”