If the beginning of President Donald Trump’s term has you missing Bernie Sanders, make sure to turn on your TV Tuesday. The Independent Vermont senator will face off against Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for a 90-minute debate at 9 p.m. EST Tuesday on CNN. The runner-up Democratic and Republican nominees will focus on the future of the Affordable Care Act, nicknamed Obamacare.
You can watch the debate live on CNN here or on CNN en Español, CNN International or CNNgo, according to a news release from the company. If you want to listen in, check out Westwood One Radio Network and Channel 116 on Sirius XM.
Sanders and Cruz have differing, if not opposite, stances on Obamacare, the federal health insurance system credited with providing 20 million people with coverage since former President Barack Obama passed it in 2010.
Sanders has spent the past month advocating for the system in the face of vows from Trump and GOP leaders like House Speaker Paul Ryan to repeal and replace it before the year is done.
“Our job today is to defend the Affordable Care Act. Our job tomorrow is to create a Medicare-for-all, single-payer system,” Politico reported Sanders said at a Jan. 15 rally. “Let me be very clear, there are differences of opinion on the Affordable Care Act — some people like it, some people don’t like it — but very few Americans believe that we should repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement program to make it better.”
Cruz, meanwhile, dislikes Obamacare, having criticized and tried to defund it in a 21-hour filibuster in 2013. Cruz — who at one point was on Obamacare — has said he thinks it threatens Americans’ jobs, makes people lose their doctors and drives up the cost of premiums. He wants to nix and replace it soon.
“This law isn’t working,” he wrote on his website. “Instead, Congress should repeal Obamacare and make meaningful reforms to expand Health Savings Accounts, allow individuals to purchase insurance across state lines, and make health care more personal, portable and affordable.”
Both lawmakers will take questions from attendees at CNN’s Tuesday debate. The town hall, moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, will be broadcast live from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
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