Democratic presidential candidates proposing policies like free college and Medicare-for-all are on a path to destroying their party, according to former White House Press secretary Ari Fleischer.
Such policies may appeal to their base, but will not unite voters when the general election rolls around, Fleischer claimed Monday on "Hannity."
"They're planting the seeds of destruction for the party in the general election, because they are going so far in this primary," he said.
Fleischer said he heard a phrase earlier Monday that rang true to him on the situation.
2020 DEMS CLASH ON 'MEDICARE-FOR-ALL,' IMMIGRATION AT DEBATE MARRED BY TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
"If you cheat trying to get into college, you go to jail," he recalled.
"But, if you cheat trying to get into America, you get free college. This is where we are going as a country," he said.
Fleischer claimed Democrats care only about identity politics and the voters it appeals to.
"It's the wrong thing for them in the general," he said.
At the first of two primary debates last week, candidates clashed on some of the issues mentioned by Fleischer.
Staking out the left flank of the party on stage Wednesday night in Miami were Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. -- the highest-polling candidate in the first debate batch, with Round 2 coming Thursday -- and long-shot Bill de Blasio, the New York City mayor.
They were the only candidates to raise their hands when asked who's willing to give up their private health insurance for a government option.
Warren went on to staunchly defend 2020 rival Sen. Bernie Sanders’ "Medicare-for-all" plan.
“I’m with Bernie on Medicare-for-all and let me tell you why,” she said. “I spent a big chunk of my life studying why families go broke and one of the number-one reasons is the cost of health care. Medical bills.”
Warren said those who challenge the policy are really saying "they just won't fight for it."
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report
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