The top 10 Democratic presidential candidates appeared on the same stage at the same time (finally!) for the month’s only Democratic primary debate in Houston, Texas, where Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, Cory Booker, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, and Julián Castro answered questions about health care, gun violence, education, and foreign policy.
It was also the first time that Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren—two of the highest-polling candidates, who have clashed in the past—shared the same stage. But while there were a few pointed exchanges between the leading candidates over the course of the night, this was the least combative and most substantive debate since the campaign began.
Here’s a rundown of the night’s standout moments →
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NOT BUYING INTO CASTRO’S FACTCHECK
As in all previous debates, health care dominated the first act on Thursday, and moderators pitted supporters and opponents of Medicare for All against each other.
- Joe Biden, who favors letting people buy in to Medicare, came out swinging against Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who both favor transitioning all Americans on to Medicare (i.e. Medicare for All).
- Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg aligned with Biden.
- Warren responded, for the first time in any of the debates, by challenging the idea that Medicare for All represents a rejection of Obamacare: "We all owe a huge debt to President Obama ... now the question is how best can we improve on it?”
Julián Castro capped off the debate with an aggressive, age-based attack on Joe Biden that incorrectly characterized Biden’s health care plan after the Vice President momentarily misstated the details of his proposal: “You just said two minutes ago that they would have to buy in… Are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago?”
Several candidates jumped in to play peacemaker, including Cory “radical love” Booker.
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Kamala Harris, meanwhile, seemed to be the only candidate on stage who remembered that Trump is president and wants to kick tens of millions of people off of their health care plans. We’re glad she took the time to remind everyone.
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HELL YES
In the immediate aftermath of mass shootings in El Paso and Odessa, Texas, ABC devoted significant airtime to the topic of gun control. Beto O’Rourke had one of the strongest moments of the night when he responded to a question about requiring gun owners to sell their assault rifles to the government: "Hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We're not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore."
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Texas state lawmaker Briscoe Cain responded to O’Rourke: “My AR is ready for you Robert Francis.” Twitter quickly removed the death threat, and Texas voters should remove Cain from office.
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CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS
Julián Castro’s second attack on Biden was less controversial. When Jorge Ramos challenged Biden to defend the Obama Administration’s immigration record, Biden implied that as Vice President, he wasn’t responsible for some of Obama’s more controversial immigration policies.
Castro responded by noting that Biden only invokes Obama’s legacy when it’s convenient:
“Every time something good about Barack Obama comes up, [Biden] says, ‘Oh, I was there, I was there, I was there ― that’s me, too.’ And then every time somebody questions part of the administration that we were both part of, he says, ‘Well, that was the president...He wants to take credit for Obama’s work but not have to answer any questions. I don’t get that.”
It’s a fair knock, but he should pay royalties to Cory Booker, who first surfaced this attack in the second debate back in July.
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A SUNSET ON WARS
This week marks the 18th anniversary of 9/11, and Afghanistan war-veteran Pete Buttigieg marked the occasion by reminding us that Americans who weren’t even born when the attacks happened are now eligible to serve in the wars the attacks inspired. He argued that war authorizations should have an automatic three-year sunset, and the president will have to go back to Congress to reauthorize them. President Obama supported a similar idea, but Congress wouldn't even consider it.
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PUT YOUR RECORDS ON
Moderator Linsey Davis asked Biden what responsibility citizens today have to address the legacy of slavery in the U.S. Biden responded with an answer that ranged from teacher pay to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro to… record players...? We… are also confused.
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