'A bunch of malarkey!' Joe Biden uses familiar phrase to fight back against Kamala Harris

As the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates verbally sparred over healthcare, former vice president Joe Biden went back to an oft-used phrase to express his displeasure Wednesday night.

Biden took issue with Sen. Kamala Harris calling back to sentiments used in Tuesday night's debate. As other candidates took aim at her for her thoughts on universal healthcare, she said they were "using republican talking points."

Biden fired back.

"This is not a Republican talking point," he said. "The Republicans are trying to kill Obamacare. Obamacare took care of 20 million people right off the bat -- 100 million people with pre-existing conditions.

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"In fact, what we got is a public option that in fact would allow anybody to buy in. No one has to keep their private insurance. They can buy into this plan and they can buy into with a $1,000 and never have to pay more than 8.5 percent of their income when they do it. If they don't have any money, they'll get in free.

To applause, he said, "So this idea is a bunch of malarkey that we're talking about here!"

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Biden said $30 trillion would have to be paid in order to support Harris' vision.

"I don't know what math you do in New York," he said. "I don't know what math you do in anywhere -- California, but I tell ya, that's a lot of money and there will be a deductible. The deductible will be out of your paycheck, because that's what will be required."

Twitter instantly jumped on Biden's use of "malarkey." It's a word the Washington Post in 2015 reported Biden said more times in public than any member of Congress since the 19th century.

Dictionary.com defines "malarkey" as "speech or writing designed to obscure, mislead, or impress."

Harris went back to talking about the profits pharmaceutical and insurance companies pocketed and said Biden's plan would do nothing to "hold the insurance companies to task for what they have been doing to American families."

"We cannot keep with the Republican talking points on this," Harris said before Biden's "malarkey" response. "You've got to stop. The reality is that under my Medicare for all plan, yes, employers are not going to be able to dictate the kind of healthcare their employees get. They will be able to make that decision."

She added, "It is misleading to suggest that employees want what their employer is offering, only. They want choice and my plan gives that to them."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democratic debate 2019: Joe Biden says 'malarkey' in healthcare debate