Best and Worst Lines From Last Night’s Democratic Presidential Debate
In case you missed yesterday’s Democratic presidential debate, here’s a quick summary: Elizabeth Warren spoke about the proposed wealth tax, Bernie Sanders called Trump a “pathological liar,” and everyone hates wine caves. Curious what we are talking about? Below are some of our favorite explanations and poignant words from the sixth and final debate of 2019.
Andrew Yang discusses reasons for the lack of colored presidential candidates
After New Jersey Senator Corey Booker and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro did not qualify for yesterday’s debate and California Senator Kamala Harris dropped out earlier this month, Andrew Young was left as the only person of color on the scene. When discussing the under-representation of people of color in the presidential race, he criticized the issue in question.
“The average net worth for a black household is only 10 percent of that for a white household,” he said. “For Hispanics, that’s 12 percent. If you are a black woman, you are 320% more likely to die from childbirth complications. These are the numbers that define the race in our country. And the question is, why am I the only color candidate in this scene? Less than 5 percent of Americans donate to political campaigns. Do you know what you need to donate to political campaigns? Net income. “
Warren defended his age, yelled at Buttidzic over fundraising campaign
In the second consecutive debate, candidates including Biden, Sanders and Warren were asked about their age in terms of becoming president. When asked to weigh him, Warren pulled out one line: “I will also be the youngest woman the president ever took office.”
Warren later instructed Buttigieg to task him with a recent fundraiser in the Napa Valley and in the “wine cave” with “$ 900 a bottle of wine.” “Wine cavern billionaires shouldn’t choose the next president of the United States,” she said. Buttigieg responded by claiming that Warren cannot pass his own “cleanliness test” as a millionaire.
Later, joining Warren’s efforts, Sanders reached out to Biden and Buttigieg about sponsoring their campaign. “My good friend Joe, he is a good friend, he received donations from 44 billionaires. Pete, on the other hand, is trailing him, Pete. You have 39 billionaires in total. So, Pete, we’re looking forward to meeting you. I know that you are an energetic and competitive guy to see if you can fight Joe on this issue. “
Klobuchar criticized Buttigieg for his comments on the candidates’ experience
During the reparations debate, the conversation somehow returned to Buttigig, courtesy of Amy Klobuchar, who criticized the mayor for the overt language he used in previous debates.
“When we participated in the last debate, Mayor, you basically made fun of 100 years of experience on stage,” she said. “… I just think you should respect our experience when you look at how you evaluate someone who can get things done.” Later, Klobuchar argued that a presidential candidate should be able to actually win the election. Buttigieg replied, “… If you want to talk about winning, try building a coalition to get you back into the office with 80 percent of the vote as gay Indiana guy Mike Pence.”
Klobuchar, however, was less confident and referred to Buttigieg’s loss when he ran for Indiana State Treasurer in 2010. “Again, Mayor… if you won in Indiana, that would be one thing. You tried and lost by 20 points. I’m sorry. It’s just math. “
Candidates presented gifts and asked for an apology
In one of the questions posed to all seven candidates on stage, PBS NewsHour host and debate moderator Judy Woodruff asked a kind of holiday question: Is there a candidate you would like to ask for forgiveness, or a candidate you would like to give a gift to? And, well, the answers are about as helpful as the question. Here are parts of each of their answers:
- Jan: “I would like to give each of you a copy of my book.”
- Buttijig: “I think we all want the same thing at the end of the day. We know what a gift for the future and the country it would be to become the President of the United States for literally anyone here compared to what we have. “
- Warren: “I’m sorry. I know that sometimes I get really worried and sometimes I get a little hot. I really don’t want that. “
- Biden: “My wife and I have a call list of 20 to 100 people who we call at least every week or every month to tell them I’m here. I give them my personal phone number. They keep in touch with me … And the reason I gave everyone here a gift is because they want to do something like me to make their life better, because there are many people who are very, very, very painful. “
- Sanders: “But I think the gift we all need to give to the American people is a completely different vision of the reality of the Trump administration. And the vision we need to pursue is to create a government and a nation based on love and compassion, not greed and hate. ”
- Klobuchar: “Well, I apologize every time one of you is angry with me. I can be straightforward. But I do this because I think it is very important to choose the right candidate. I … We have to remember as Democrats, and if I care about it, it’s because I believe so strongly in my heart that we have to bring people with us, not shut them down. This is a gift that we can give America in this election. “
- Steier: “… the gift of teamwork. Because the question here is how are we going to change this structure together? How are we going to defeat this corrupt and criminal president together? “
Honorable mentions
Jan (during his closing speech): “I know what you are thinking America. How do I still stand with them on stage? “
Klobuchar (on the absence of women in politics): “In the history of the United States Senate, there were more than 2,000 men and only 50 women. Trevor Noah said that if the nightclub had so few rooms, they would close it. “
Yang (on the overrepresentation of men in politics): “The thing is, if you gather too many men alone and leave us alone for a while, we’ll kind of become idiots.”