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| Live Updates at the September Democratic Debate | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Candidates: Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Kamala Harris, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the entrepreneur Andrew Yang, Senator Cory Booker, former Representative Beto O’Rourke, Senator Amy Klobuchar and former housing secretary Julián Castro. | Candidates: Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Kamala Harris, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the entrepreneur Andrew Yang, Senator Cory Booker, former Representative Beto O’Rourke, Senator Amy Klobuchar and former housing secretary Julián Castro. |
| One of the moderators, Jorge Ramos, asked Mr. Biden a blunt question, citing the record of deportations under President Obama: “Why should Latinos trust you?” | |
| Mr. Biden began by pivoting to Mr. Trump. “What Latinos should look at, comparing this president to the president we have is outrageous, number one. We didn’t lock people up in cages. We didn’t separate families. We didn’t to all of those things,” Mr. Biden said. | |
| Pressed further, Mr. Biden would not distance himself from Mr. Obama’s deportation record: “The president did the best thing that was able to be did at that time.” He added without further explanation that he was vice president. | |
| Mr. Castro wanted to hear more, mocking Mr. Biden. “Every time something good about Barack Obama comes up, he says, “oh, I was there, I was there, I was there, that’s me, too.” | |
| “He wants to take credit for Obama’s work but not answer any questions,” Mr. Castro added. | |
| Mr. Biden, as he has done throughout the campaign, bear-hugged Mr. Obama. “I stand with Barack Obama all eight years. Good, bad and indifferent. That’s where I stand.” | |
| Mr. O’Rourke is no longer standing at center stage. And it showed on Thursday because his rivals kept praising him for his role in healing the community in El Paso after the recent shooting. | |
| Mr. Biden first: “He way he handled what happened in his hometown is meaningful.” Ms. Harris: “Beto, god love you for standing to courageously in the midst of that tragedy.” | |
| When Mr. O’Rourke got his chance, his voice rose in a crescendo as he invoked a curse word — albeit one that can air on national television, calling for mandatory buybacks of assault rifles. | |
| “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We’re not going to allow it to be used against a fellow American anymore,” Mr. O’Rourke declared. | |
| The crowd gave him one of the loudest cheers of the night. | |
| Ms. Klobuchar wouldn’t endorse a mandatory buybacks of assault-style rifles, instead praising the various gun control proposals backed by all of the Democratic presidential candidates. | |
| “I personally think we should start with a voluntary buyback program,” she said. | |
| Mr. Booker was less laudatory of Mr. O’Rourke, as he said communities like his own have long been plagued by gun violence. | |
| “I’m sorry that it had to take issues coming to my neighborhood or personally affecting Beto to make us demand change,” Mr. Booker said. | |
| Ms. Klobuchar and Ms. Harris got tough questions about their records as prosecutors not being sufficiently progressive — and both largely dodged the specifics in responding. | Ms. Klobuchar and Ms. Harris got tough questions about their records as prosecutors not being sufficiently progressive — and both largely dodged the specifics in responding. |
| “That’s not my record,” Ms. Klobuchar said when told that the A.C.L.U. was sour about her record responding to police shootings of black men when she was the district attorney in Minneapolis. | “That’s not my record,” Ms. Klobuchar said when told that the A.C.L.U. was sour about her record responding to police shootings of black men when she was the district attorney in Minneapolis. |
| “What changes did we make?” she said. “Go after white collar crimes in a big way. Diversity in office in a big way. Work with the Innocence Project to make sure we do much better with eyewitness I.D.” | “What changes did we make?” she said. “Go after white collar crimes in a big way. Diversity in office in a big way. Work with the Innocence Project to make sure we do much better with eyewitness I.D.” |
| Ms. Harris said she “glad you asked me this question,” though mostly avoided answering it, claiming “many distortions” of her record. | Ms. Harris said she “glad you asked me this question,” though mostly avoided answering it, claiming “many distortions” of her record. |
| Ultimately, she took some ownership of that record. “Was I able to get enough done? Absolutely not,” Ms. Harris said, pitching her new criminal justice plan as ambitious going forward. | Ultimately, she took some ownership of that record. “Was I able to get enough done? Absolutely not,” Ms. Harris said, pitching her new criminal justice plan as ambitious going forward. |
| After Ms. Klobuchar and Ms. Harris spoke, Mr. Biden made sure to note he became a public defender, leaving unsaid the contrast with the other prosecutors onstage. | After Ms. Klobuchar and Ms. Harris spoke, Mr. Biden made sure to note he became a public defender, leaving unsaid the contrast with the other prosecutors onstage. |
| One split that’s clear early in the debate is between the fighters and the peacemakers. | One split that’s clear early in the debate is between the fighters and the peacemakers. |
| Half the candidates onstage want to have a principled fight about policy, and half are trying to present themselves as unifiers. | Half the candidates onstage want to have a principled fight about policy, and half are trying to present themselves as unifiers. |
| It’s a divide that encompasses much of the discussion among Democratic voters in early states and now has taken over the debate stage, with Mr. Biden squaring off with Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren about health care policy. | It’s a divide that encompasses much of the discussion among Democratic voters in early states and now has taken over the debate stage, with Mr. Biden squaring off with Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren about health care policy. |
| Others, like Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Buttigieg, Ms. Harris and Mr. Booker — who were excluded from the early food fight on health coverage — sought to portray the fighters as “all that’s wrong” with politics, as Mr. Buttigieg put it. | Others, like Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Buttigieg, Ms. Harris and Mr. Booker — who were excluded from the early food fight on health coverage — sought to portray the fighters as “all that’s wrong” with politics, as Mr. Buttigieg put it. |
| “I know we cannot sacrifice progress on the altar of purity, because people in my community, they need help right now,” Mr. Booker said. | “I know we cannot sacrifice progress on the altar of purity, because people in my community, they need help right now,” Mr. Booker said. |
| In his first opportunity to speak, Mr. Castro went aggressively after Mr. Biden, opening with the fact that a fact-check after the last debate showed that Mr. Biden’s health plan “leaves 10 million people uncovered” despite Mr. Biden’s claim otherwise. | In his first opportunity to speak, Mr. Castro went aggressively after Mr. Biden, opening with the fact that a fact-check after the last debate showed that Mr. Biden’s health plan “leaves 10 million people uncovered” despite Mr. Biden’s claim otherwise. |
| As Mr. Biden pushed backed, about whether his plan was an opt-in system, Mr. Castro questioned the 76-year old candidate’s memory. | As Mr. Biden pushed backed, about whether his plan was an opt-in system, Mr. Castro questioned the 76-year old candidate’s memory. |
| “Are you forgetting what you said just two minutes ago?’ said Mr. Castro, 44, repeating himself more than once. | “Are you forgetting what you said just two minutes ago?’ said Mr. Castro, 44, repeating himself more than once. |
| Mr. Biden looked taken aback. | Mr. Biden looked taken aback. |
| Mr. Castro kept going. “If you lose your job, for instance, his health care plan would not automatically enroll you, you would have to opt in. My health care plan would. That’s big difference. I’m fulfilling the legacy of Barack Obama and you’re not.” | Mr. Castro kept going. “If you lose your job, for instance, his health care plan would not automatically enroll you, you would have to opt in. My health care plan would. That’s big difference. I’m fulfilling the legacy of Barack Obama and you’re not.” |
| “That would be a surprise to him,” Mr. Biden said. | “That would be a surprise to him,” Mr. Biden said. |
| Mr. Buttigieg interjected to play peacemaker, saying the food fight was what people “cannot stand about Washington.” | Mr. Buttigieg interjected to play peacemaker, saying the food fight was what people “cannot stand about Washington.” |
| If the political talk heading into the debate was on the first face-off between Mr. Biden and Ms. Warren, the early fireworks came in exchanges between Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders. | If the political talk heading into the debate was on the first face-off between Mr. Biden and Ms. Warren, the early fireworks came in exchanges between Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders. |
| Mr. Biden came out strong attacking Medicare for all and Mr. Sanders’s support for it. | Mr. Biden came out strong attacking Medicare for all and Mr. Sanders’s support for it. |
| “For a socialist you’ve got a lot more confidence in corporate America than I do,” the former vice president said. | “For a socialist you’ve got a lot more confidence in corporate America than I do,” the former vice president said. |
| Mr. Sanders shot back: “You know why they’re going bankrupt? Because they suffered a terrible disease, cancer, or heart disease.” | Mr. Sanders shot back: “You know why they’re going bankrupt? Because they suffered a terrible disease, cancer, or heart disease.” |
| Mr. Biden, whose son Beau died of cancer, flared in anger. | Mr. Biden, whose son Beau died of cancer, flared in anger. |
| “I know a lot about cancer,” he said. “Let me tell you something. It’s personal to me.” | “I know a lot about cancer,” he said. “Let me tell you something. It’s personal to me.” |
| At first the health care coverage included only Mr. Biden, Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren, to the exclusion of everyone else. Finally Mr. Stephanopoulos threw it to Ms. Klobuchar, who sought to separate herself from Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren. | At first the health care coverage included only Mr. Biden, Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren, to the exclusion of everyone else. Finally Mr. Stephanopoulos threw it to Ms. Klobuchar, who sought to separate herself from Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren. |
| “While Bernie wrote the bill, I read the bill,” Ms. Klobuchar said, saying that eliminating private health insurance is “a bad idea.” | “While Bernie wrote the bill, I read the bill,” Ms. Klobuchar said, saying that eliminating private health insurance is “a bad idea.” |
| Ms. Klobuchar and then Mr. Buttigieg tried to reframe their opposition to Medicare for All in more muscular terms. | Ms. Klobuchar and then Mr. Buttigieg tried to reframe their opposition to Medicare for All in more muscular terms. |
| Mr. Buttigieg went right after Mr. Sanders: “The problem, Senator Sanders, with the damn bill that you wrote, and that Senator Warren backs, is that it doesn’t trust the American people. I trust you to choose what makes the most sense for you. Not my way or the high way.” | Mr. Buttigieg went right after Mr. Sanders: “The problem, Senator Sanders, with the damn bill that you wrote, and that Senator Warren backs, is that it doesn’t trust the American people. I trust you to choose what makes the most sense for you. Not my way or the high way.” |
| The opening question, to Mr. Biden, cut to the core of the ideological divide of the party: How ambitious should the Democratic Party be in crafting plans for health care, climate change and raising taxes. | The opening question, to Mr. Biden, cut to the core of the ideological divide of the party: How ambitious should the Democratic Party be in crafting plans for health care, climate change and raising taxes. |
| Mr. Biden choose to focus on health care, where he wants to build on the Affordable Care Act while Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren want to implement a Medicare for All system. | Mr. Biden choose to focus on health care, where he wants to build on the Affordable Care Act while Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren want to implement a Medicare for All system. |
| “I think we should have a debate on health care. I think — I know that the senator says she’s for Bernie, well, I’m for Barack,” Mr. Biden said. “I think the Obamacare worked.” | “I think we should have a debate on health care. I think — I know that the senator says she’s for Bernie, well, I’m for Barack,” Mr. Biden said. “I think the Obamacare worked.” |
| Ms. Warren sought to neutralize any forthcoming attacks from Mr. Biden about not respecting the legacy of Mr. Obama. She praised Mr. Obama for the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and said she wants to build on it. | Ms. Warren sought to neutralize any forthcoming attacks from Mr. Biden about not respecting the legacy of Mr. Obama. She praised Mr. Obama for the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and said she wants to build on it. |
| Pressed on how to pay for it, she said, “We pay for it, those at the very top, the richest individuals and the biggest corporations, are going to pay more. And middle class families are going to pay less.” | Pressed on how to pay for it, she said, “We pay for it, those at the very top, the richest individuals and the biggest corporations, are going to pay more. And middle class families are going to pay less.” |
| Ms. Warren refused to get drawn into the question about whether middle-class taxes will increase, returning the issue to whether total cost of health care will increase or not. | Ms. Warren refused to get drawn into the question about whether middle-class taxes will increase, returning the issue to whether total cost of health care will increase or not. |
| Mr. Sanders directly criticized Mr. Biden for his criticism of Medicare for All. | Mr. Sanders directly criticized Mr. Biden for his criticism of Medicare for All. |
| “Let us be clear, Joe, in the United States of America, we have spending twice as much per capita on health care as the Canadians or any other major country on Earth,” Mr. Sanders said. | “Let us be clear, Joe, in the United States of America, we have spending twice as much per capita on health care as the Canadians or any other major country on Earth,” Mr. Sanders said. |
| “This is America,” Mr. Biden shot back. | “This is America,” Mr. Biden shot back. |
| Jonathan Martin and Astead W. Herndon contributed reporting from Houston. | Jonathan Martin and Astead W. Herndon contributed reporting from Houston. |