Republicans mislead in ad linking Bill Nelson to Elizabeth Warren on single payer
A Facebook ad by the
"
In June, Warren told the
It's possible to view the ad and get the impression that Nelson has supported single payer, a system in which government would provide health care coverage for everyone similar to
A spokeswoman for the NRSC disagreed with that interpretation. She said that the line is a reference to Nelson agreeing with Warren on a majority of votes. The NRSC's press release announcing the ad raises the question if Nelson will "support Warren's socialized health care plan."
"It's a fair question, seeing Warren is advocating for
We'll examine the ad's entire text and issue an overall rating.
Nelson said little about single payer
Nelson has scarcely mentioned "single payer" at all in the years leading up to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, or even since that time.
At an
Some
In the summer of 2009, Nelson said little about the pending legislation, drawing heat from some Democratic activists. By the fall, he sounded cautiously supportive and called the bill a "starting point."
Nelson actually pushed back against those who said the health proposal would end up turning into single payer.
For example, during a
Nelson disagreed with Grassley's conclusion. "Now you just made a statement that it will lead to a single payer. How in the world do you make that leap?" Nelson said.
Nelson's office declined to comment for this fact-check; however, on the day the NRSC ad appeared, Nelson addressed the question of his view on single payer while meeting with college students in
"When people say, 'Are you for single payer,' I'm having enough trouble right now just keeping the ACA," Nelson said. "America is not ready for single payer, but America is ready -- and has -- the ACA. People are trying to take that away and take health care away from 22 million people."
Nelson has said he would not vote for the Republican's
Comparing voting records
The NRSC sent us a screengrab of
The fact that members of the same party agree with each other on issues that reach a vote isn't a surprise in an increasingly partisan atmosphere.
However, the issues that reach a vote don't tell the full story about a senator's beliefs,
"The
Voting together on a carefully screened set of issues does not imply agreement on controversial proposals.
Our ruling
The NRSC said, "
The ad suggests that Nelson supports Warren on most things, including a single-payer health care system. Actually, Nelson has said he doesn't support single payer and wants to focus on preserving current law. His voting record is similar to Warren's, but members of the same party increasingly vote alike due to a lack of bipartisan votes in the
We rate this claim Mostly False.
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