Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg on Thursday said 2020 rival Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been “extremely evasive” on whether she would raise middle-class taxes to help implement a universal “Medicare for All” health care system.

“Sen. Warren is known for being straightforward and was extremely evasive when asked that question, and we’ve seen that repeatedly,” Mr. Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said on CNN.

“I think that If you are proud of your plan and it’s the right plan, you should defend it in straightforward terms,” Mr. Buttigieg said. “And I think it’s puzzling that when everybody knows the answer to that question of whether her plan and Sen. [Bernard] Sanders’ plan will raise middle-class taxes is yes, why you wouldn’t just say so and explain why you think that’s the better way forward.”

Asked multiple times during last week’s Democratic debate whether middle-class taxes would go up under her plan, Ms. Warren of Massachusetts pivoted and said health care costs would go down.

Mr. Buttigieg on Thursday unveiled his own health care proposal that includes a public insurance option and said his plan would not require raising middle-class taxes.

“It does create a way for everybody to be covered, and I think that’s what most Americans want,” he said.

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