Article snippet: Julián Castro on Friday defended his testy exchange with Joe Biden at Thursday night’s debate over health care that seemed to jab at the former vice president’s age, saying he would not do anything differently. “I mean, he has been around for a long time, OK,” Castro said on CNN Friday morning after he was hit with strong criticism from pundits and on social media. “When we are up there, we are up there to debate.” The two former Obama administration officials -- Castro served as Housing and Urban Development secretary while Biden was Obama’s vice president -- had one of the sharpest exchanges on the Democratic debate stage in Houston. Castro had flashed his aggressive style before, using an attack on Beto O’Rourke at the first debate in June to boost his campaign. But Castro struggled to build momentum heading into the third debate on Thursday. If he was looking for another breakout moment, it was unclear whether he got it. The exchange with Biden came early in the night as the candidates were discussing their health care plans. Castro said his plan would automatically enroll anyone without health coverage in Medicare while he said Biden would force people to buy into the program, potentially leaving them uncovered. Biden shot back that he did not require people without health coverage to buy in. At that point, Castro pounced. “Are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago? Are you forgetting already what you said just two minutes ago?” said Castro. “I mean,... Link to the full article to read more