Pete Buttigieg Says Crying ‘Socialism’ is Tired: Obamacare Was a Conservative Idea…Which They Called ‘Socialist’

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg appeared on Good Morning America Thursday morning and addressed the “socialist” label in the frank and candid manner that has given rise to his upstart campaign. The focus of the conversation? Is the label “socialist” a liability in today’s political landscape?

George Stephanopoulos asked the South Bend Mayor about an essay he wrote in High School that ostensibly praised Bernie Sanders self-identifying as a “socialist” in context of the term being used by the right to vilify progressive candidates on the left. Buttigieg corrected the GMA anchor and said that the focus of his award-winning essay was for being honest for what he believed.

Buttigieg then pivoted to the term “socialist” calling out the right for unfairly using it to vilify political opponents. He then mentioned how President Donald Trump is “adopting a tactic that takes us baaing to the darkest days of the ’50s when you could use the word socialist to kill somebody’s career or to kill an idea” comparing it to the Boy Who Cried Wolf tale.

He then cited the example of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, which has been oft-derided as a socialist program. The roots of ACA were developed in conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation before first being rolled out by the then-Republican governor of Massachusettes Mitt Romney.

“The affordable care act was a conservative idea that Democrats borrowed and called that socialist so it’s like the boy who cried wolf,” Buttigieg offered, adding “It’s lost all power especially for my generation of voters.”

Watch above via ABC.

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