Providing a two-year timeline of 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg's remarks about Medicare for All, progressive advocacy group Justice Democrats on Wednesday accused the South Bend, Indiana mayor of abandoning support for single-payer healthcare in favor of an incremental half-measure after realizing "he could raise tons of cash from corporate executives in the pharmaceutical and insurance industry."

Waleed Shahid, spokesperson for Justice Democrats, said in a statement that Buttigieg "has no credibility" to criticize fellow 2020 contenders Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for being "evasive" on Medicare for All "given how far his position has shifted over the past two years and how much money he's been taking from Big Pharma and insurance executives."

"Buttigieg was for Medicare for All before he was against it. What happened this summer that made him abandon Medicare for All? He realized he was never going to beat Warren and Sanders as a progressive."

—Waleed Shahid, Justice Democrats

According to a Business Insider analysis published in August, Buttigieg—who is now running on a public option plan called "Medicare for All Who Want It"—has received more campaign cash from the healthcare industry than any other 2020 presidential candidate aside from President Donald Trump.

Shahid suggested Tuesday that industry cash played a role in Buttigieg's decision to ditch Medicare for All and go on the attack against the popular proposal in campaign ads and the presidential debates.

"Buttigieg was for Medicare for All before he was against it," said Shahid. "What happened this summer that made him abandon Medicare for All? He realized he was never going to beat Warren and Sanders as a progressive. He got scared of the fight. He realized he could raise tons of cash from corporate executives in the pharmaceutical and insurance industry."

The Buttigieg campaign pushed back against Justice Democrats' criticism on Twitter, insisting that the South Bend mayor expressed support for Medicare for All when it was "not synonymous" with the single-payer system proposed by Sanders' Medicare for All legislation.

Shahid said that is "not true," pointing to an op-ed Buttigieg wrote in 2004 expressing support for single-payer.

"The meaning [of Medicare for All] hasn't changed," said Shahid. "Him cozying up to the industry has."

As part of a press release Wednesday morning, in an attempt to demonstrate how dramatically the mayor's position on Medicare for All has shifted, Justice Democrats offered the following timeline of Buttigieg's healthcare remarks dating back to early 2018: