Harry Reid Drops the Hammer: ‘Of Course’ Medicare for All and Decriminalizing Border Crossings Are Bad Ideas

Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) admitted that the far-left’s policy proposals – such as Medicare for All and decriminalizing border crossings – are bad ideas in an interview with Vice News published Tuesday.

Reid spoke to Vice News and openly acknowledged that Medicare for All is a problematic campaign promise.

“Of course it would be,” Reid said after being asked if Medicare for All would spell trouble for Democrats in the general election. “How are you going to get it passed?”

Reid told Vice News that Democrats need to focus on “improving Obamacare”– something frontrunner Joe Biden (D) has called for in months past.

“We should defend and build upon the Affordable Care Act to ensure every American has access to quality, affordable health care,” Biden noted in his policy platform, which he unveiled earlier this year.

Reid seemingly agrees:

“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.”

Reid also told Vice News that Democrats’ call to decriminalize border crossings – a proposal supported by Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and others – is “not something that should be at the top” of the Democrat Party’s list:

“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.

“People want a fair immigration system. They don’t want an open-door invitation for everybody to come at once,” Reid continued, delivering a major blow to the far-left Democrats who have advocated for open border policies.

Despite that, Reid praised top Democrat contenders like Biden, whom he thinks “the world” of, and Warren.

“I’ve been impressed with Elizabeth. She is not hiring a bunch of pollsters and consultants. Everything she’s doing is in-house,” Reid told Vice News. “I’m not going to endorse anyone until after the caucuses, but everyone has to be impressed with what she’s doing.”