Ted Cruz Slams California Democrats for Not Delivering Universal Health Care, Says ‘Wild-Eyed Socialists’ Admitted They Couldn’t Afford It: ‘Nobody Is Stopping Them’

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) criticized California Democrats for failing to implement government-funded universal health care, arguing that the proposal’s potential economic costs made it financially unsustainable.

Cruz Questions California’s Universal Health Care Push

On Sunday, in a post on X, Cruz questioned, "Why have Democrats not implemented socialized medicine in California?"

"They have the governor’s office. They have a supermajority in the House and a supermajority in the Senate," he said.

"Nobody is stopping them," he added.

Cruz said Democrats had examined the proposal and concluded it could "destroy the economy," cause billions of dollars in economic damage and prompt small businesses to leave the state. "Even the wild-eyed socialists in California said they couldn’t afford it," he said.

Why have Democrats not implemented socialized medicine in California?

They have the governor's office. They have a supermajority in the House and a supermajority in the Senate.

Nobody is stopping them.

They studied it, they examined it, and they discovered that it would… pic.twitter.com/K37g7vL8Rj

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 11, 2026

Calls for Universal Health Care

In August, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) cited a Yale analysis on social media that projected Medicare for All could cut annual U.S. health care spending by $1.04 trillion, or nearly 20%, with savings helping fund hospital care and higher provider payments.

In July, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) criticized high U.S. health care spending, citing 85 million uninsured or underinsured people and 500,000 medical debt-related bankruptcies. He called for universal health care as a human right.

Last year, Mark Cuban said health care is a right but argued that universal coverage would be difficult to implement in the U.S. without financially harming doctors and health care providers.

California Health Care Funding

Earlier, the Trump administration paused more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota over suspected fraud and noncompliance.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) accused the administration of politically targeting California, which pledged to work with federal officials to combat fraud.

Last week, Khanna urged Democrats to support Proposition 40, warning that 3.5 million Californians could lose health coverage and 150,000 health care providers could lose their jobs if the measure failed.

He called for taxing billionaires to fund health care.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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