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Michael Bennet's new Iowa ad highlights the Dem divide on health care

Sen. Michael Bennet at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin. Photo: Sergio Flores/Getty Images

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet is out with a new Iowa ad for his presidential campaign that argues the best way to beat President Trump is fighting for a public option to be included in the Affordable Care Act — not Medicare for All.

  • His team has spent over $1 million on 3 ads about Medicare's public option, arguing that's a winning alternative to Medicare for All.
  • This latest ad is out on the same day that President Trump will be giving a speech in Florida to reportedly unveil his own Medicare plan.

Why it matters: As Bennet struggles to break 1% in the polls and Democrats' divide over health care grows larger, his campaign hopes he can emerge as a leader on this issue by highlighting his decade-long fight for a public option.

  • Sen. Bennet wrote legislation, called Medicare-X, that would add a public option in some of the ACA's insurance markets.
  • His last ad specifically focused on "the hard truth" of Medicare for All and why he thinks that's not the best solution.

"I didn't win two swing state elections by apologizing for Obamacare or making empty promises," he says in the ad. "I did it by going everywhere, offering ideas that can win broad support — even the places that don't vote for me. You want to beat Trump? That's how."

Watch the full ad.

Editor's note: This post has been corrected to reflect that Bennet is pushing to add a public option to the Affordable Care Act (not that the option he wrote is already in the ACA).

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Updated 54 mins ago - Health

U.K. first nation to clear Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for mass rollout

A health care worker during the phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial by the Pfizer and BioNTech in Ankara, Turkey, in October. Photo: Dogukan Keskinkilic/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The United Kingdom's government announced Wednesday it's approved Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, which "will be made available across the U.K. from next week."

Why it matters: The U.K. has beaten the U.S. to become the first Western country to give emergency approval for a vaccine that's found to be 95% effective with no serious side effects against a virus that's killed nearly 1.5 million people globally.

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NYT: Biden won't immediately remove U.S. tariffs on China

President-elect Joe Biden during an event in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

President Trump's 25% tariffs imposed on China under the phase one trade deal will remain in place at the start of the new administration, President-elect Biden said in an interview with the New York Times published early Wednesday.

Details: "I'm not going to make any immediate moves, and the same applies to the tariffs," Biden said. He plans to conduct a full review of the current U.S. policy on China and speak with key allies in Asia and Europe to "develop a coherent strategy," he said.

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5 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Trump threatens to veto defense spending bill over social media shield

Photo: Erin Schaff - Pool/Getty Images

President Trump tweeted Tuesday a threat to veto a must-pass end-of-year $740 billion bill defense-spending authorization bill unless Congress repeals a federal law that protects social media sites from legal liability.

Why it matters: Trump's attempt to get Congress to end the tech industry protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is the latest escalation in his war on tech giants over what he and some other Republicans perceive as bias against conservatives.

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