Here’s What You Missed in the Second Round of the Detroit Democratic Presidential Debate
On Wednesday night, 10 more candidates took to the stage in Detroit for the second round of the Democratic presidential debate, discussing health, climate change and police reform, but Joe Biden was the clear topic for all candidates.
Nearly every candidate fired a shot at the former vice president, including Corey Booker, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, all of whom criticized his political reputation. Unlike the first round of debates on Tuesday – which seemed dry by comparison – each candidate looked for a moment in the limelight to grab attention (and fundraise) at the last minute.
Below are a few points you may have missed, including Andrew Young calling himself an “Asian who loves math,” Booker and Biden discuss criminal justice reform, and Biden advises viewers to visit the campaign’s defunct website.
Biden told Harris to “relax” before the debate.
Even before Tuesday’s debate began, Biden jokingly approached Harris with a request as she approached the former vice president onstage, “Take it easy, kid,” which was probably in response to their conversation about traveling to bus during the debate in Miami .
Inan interview after the debate, Harris said she “didn’t think much about it.” On Twitter, Harris spokesman Ian Sams questioned Biden using the word “child” when greeting the senator.
Castro discussed immigration with Biden and made it clear that border crossing should be decriminalized
Julian Castro, who has garnered serious attention after the Miami debate for opposing Beto O’Rourke on the immigration debate, agreed with Biden on the same issue. During the discussion, Biden reiterated his support for the criminalization of border crossing. In response, Castro used continued family separation at the border as proof that it should no longer remain a crime.
“First, Mr. Vice President, it looks like one of us has learned the lessons of the past and the other has not,” Castro said to applause.
Harris argued with Biden again over his bus records
When the debate returned to Biden’s account of the buses, Harris made it clear that the former vice president and she did not share the same position. “If these segregationists were on their way, I would not be a member of the United States Senate, Corey Booker would not be a member of the United States Senate, and Barack Obama would not have been able to appoint him to the title he now holds,” she said. later stating that Biden did not acknowledge his controversial reputation.
Booker and Biden discussed criminal justice reform and advised Biden to stop diving into his “help.”
While discussing Booker’s criticism of his criminal justice reform plan, Biden pointed out that Booker was mayor of Newark, New Jersey. (Booker introduced a controversial stop-and-go program that relied heavily on racial profiling.)
Booker finally cut him off. “Mr. Vice President, there is a saying in my community: you dip into Kool-Aid and don’t even know its taste,” said the senator from New Jersey. …
De Blasio reacted to police killing Eric Garner
At the start of the debate, protesters interrupted Booker and Bill de Blasio on health issues and called for the firing of New York officer Daniel Pantaleo; in 2014, Pantaleo fatally strangled Eric Garner and was not charged with murder.
Later that night, the subject contacted Eric Garner, and candidates including Castro, Gillibrand and Harris demanded that he be fired. De Blasio responded by stating that “justice” would soon prevail. “Well, let me tell you. I know the Garner family. They have gone through extraordinary pain. They expect justice and seek justice. Finally, justice will come. I am sure of it in the next 30 days in New York.”
Gillibrand calls Biden’s record for female workers, Biden gets applause
Discussing the gender pay gap, Gillibrand reached out to Biden directly, questioning an article he wrote as a senator; according to Gillibrand, Biden wrote that working women would “make the family worse off.”
Biden defended himself, saying that Gillibrand recently supported his proposal, which calls for equality on campuses. “You came with me to Syracuse University and said it was wonderful. I am passionate about making sure women are treated the same. I don’t know what happened, except that you are now running for president, ”Biden said to the applause of the crowd.
(Joining the discussion, Harris later criticized Biden, who had recently changed his stance on the Hyde Amendment ; for years Biden had supported the amendment banning federal funding for abortion, but the former vice president changed his position in June.)
Honorable mentions
Andrew Young (during his opening statement): “We need to do the opposite of what we are doing now, and the opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian man who loves math.”
Julian Castro (in his opening remarks): “I don’t want America to do anything again. I don’t want us to retreat. We will not go back in time. We will not go back to where we came from. We’re going to move forward. “
Jay Inslee (on Immigration): “I think we are missing two basic statements that we need to make so that we can no longer allow a white nationalist to be in the White House, number one and … number two, we need to make America this way as it is. it has always been a refuge. “
Kirsten Gillibrand (on The New Green): “So the first thing I do when I become president is I go to the Clorox Oval Office. The second thing I’m going to do is tackle global climate change again. “
Joe Biden (during his closing remarks): “This is the United States of America. When we acted together, we were never, never, never able to overcome any problem. If you agree with me, go to joe30330 and help me in this fight. ” (Joe30330.com redirects to a parody campaign site that is not owned by the VP. Biden later clarified that viewers must text 30330 to receive campaign updates.)