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Bernie Sanders faces onslaught from rivals in South Carolina debate Bernie Sanders faces onslaught from rivals in fiery South Carolina debate
(about 3 hours later)
The Democratic frontrunner is target of attacks from centrists Mike Bloomberg and Joe Biden Candidates bickered and shouted over each other in sharp exchanges in debate before Super Tuesday contests
Democratic candidates rounded on Bernie Sanders at the crucial 10th primary debate in South Carolina on Tuesday night, seeking to slow his momentum as the current frontrunner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. The Democratic presidential candidates bickered and shouted over each other in a series of chaotic exchanges on Tuesday night, in the final debate before the critical South Carolina presidential primary and Super Tuesday contests that could represent a make or break moment for several of the seven candidates on stage.
The Vermont senator, who cruised to victory in the Nevada caucuses last weekend and holds a firm lead from the first three early voting states, faced fire from rivals looking to halt his rise in the race to become the Democratic candidate to take on Donald Trump in November’s election. Senator Bernie Sanders, the current frontrunner who cruised to victory in Nevada last week, bore the brunt of criticism from a number of his centrist rivals, including vice-president Joe Biden, former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg and former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg.
Former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg used his first answer to criticize Sanders over recent reports that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election to help his campaign. Buttigieg labelled Sanders a polarizing figure in the primary and warned of a race between him and Trump: “If you think the last four years has been chaotic, divisive, toxic, exhausting, imagine spending the better part of 2020 with Bernie Sanders v Donald Trump,” he said.
Trying to recover from his disastrous first debate performance last week, Bloomberg said Russia’s efforts showed Sanders is the weakest candidate Democrats could put up against Trump. The Vermont senator quickly acknowledged the heat he attracted, stating wryly: “I’m hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight. I wonder why.”
Sanders responded: “Let me tell [Russian president Vladimir] Putin... If I’m president of the United States, trust me, you’re not going to interfere in any more American elections.” In one of the earliest fiery exchanges, Bloomberg – who is not on the ballot in South Carolina but is seeking to make gains in the 16 states and territories voting next Tuesday – referenced recent reports to suggest that Sanders’ campaign was benefitting from Russian interference in the 2020 primary.
Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, a fellow progressive, also took aim at Sanders, saying the pair agree on a lot of things, but that she’d be a “better president”. “Russia is helping you get elected, so you will lose to him [Trump]” Bloomberg told Sanders, in an early attempt to recover from his disastrous first debate performance last week, as members of the audience jeered.
“Progressives have one shot, and we need to spend it on a leader who will get something done,” Warren said. Addressing his response directly to Russian president Vladimir Putin, Sanders said: “If I’m president of the United States, trust me, you’re not going to interfere in any more American elections.”
But Warren spent more speaking time taking aim at Bloomberg, fiercely criticising his past comments on women, and highlighting one of the most disturbing remarks Bloomberg allegedly made to a female employee in 1995, which he denies.
The candidates on stage – who also included former vice-president Joe Biden, Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, former mayor Pete Buttigieg, and billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer – frequently bickered and talked over each other as they tried to make their mark days ahead of the South Carolina primary on Saturday, and Super Tuesday on 3 March, when 16 states and territories will have their say.
The South Carolina primary marks the first vote in the deep south and will see African American voters form a majority of the electorate for the first time.The South Carolina primary marks the first vote in the deep south and will see African American voters form a majority of the electorate for the first time.
The debate, at the Galliard Center in downtown Charleston, took place just a few dozen feet from the Mother Emanuel AME church, the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the southern United States, which has long been a centre for resistance against white supremacy and racism in South Carolina.
It was also the site of the 2015 church massacre, when a white supremacist terrorist murdered nine black churchgoers in a mass shooting that shook the nation.
The legacy of that horrific terror attack was referenced by Biden in a question gun control, forcing Sanders to defend his mixed record on the issue, and explain why he voted in the early 2000s to protect gun manufacturers from legal liability.
Sanders initially tried to pivot to criticizing Biden for his record on trade deals, prompting boos from the Charleston audience.
“I have cast thousands of votes, including bad votes,” Sanders then said. “That was a bad vote.”
Biden has long courted voters in the black community, touting his record as vice-president to America’s first African American president. But recent polling has suggested that Sanders, buoyed by success in a multicultural electorate in Nevada, is now the frontrunner with black voters nationally.Biden has long courted voters in the black community, touting his record as vice-president to America’s first African American president. But recent polling has suggested that Sanders, buoyed by success in a multicultural electorate in Nevada, is now the frontrunner with black voters nationally.
Biden, who lagged behind in Iowa and New Hampshire and finished a distant second in Nevada, still edges Sanders in South Carolina, according to recent polling, which places the former vice-president at 30% of the vote compared with Sanders’ 23%. Biden, who holds a slim lead in South Carolina according to recent polling, said he intends to win in the state on Saturday, and pledged to nominate an African American woman to the supreme court if elected. But he also tried to tear strips off Sanders, his closet rival the state.
This evening’s event also sees Steyer return to the debate state. His campaign has invested millions in adverts in the state and is currently polling third on 13%. Referencing the 2015 terror attack at Mother Emanuel AME church, which stands a few dozen feet from the debate state in downtown Charleston, Biden pointed to Sanders’ mixed voting record on gun control, and touted his own 1994 legislation implementing five day waiting periods for firearms purchases.
The debate marks the last time the candidates will face off before Super Tuesday, which has the potential to whittle down the field even further. Super Tuesday will also be the first time that Bloomberg, who has invested close to half a billion dollars of his personal fortune into his campaign, will feature on the ballot. “I’m not saying he [Sanders] is responsible for the nine deaths [at Mother Emanuel],” Biden said. “But that man [the white supremacist Dylann Roof] would not have been able to get that weapon with the waiting period had been what I suggest[ed].”
Sanders initially tried to pivot to criticizing Biden for his record on trade deals, prompting more boos from the audience, before recanting: “I have cast thousands of votes, including bad votes,” Sanders said. “That was a bad vote.”
As with much of the debate there was little follow up questioning after Sanders’ significant acknowledgement, as moderators struggled to keep the candidates from interrupting each other, talking over each other, shouting, and speaking for longer than their assigned time limits.
The Trump campaign quickly seized on the disorder, issuing a statement saying: “The Democrat Party is a hot mess and tonight’s debate was further evidence that not one of these candidates is serious or can stand toe-to-toe with President Trump.”
Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, a fellow progressive, also took aim at Sanders, saying the pair agree on a lot of things, but that she’d be a “better president”.
“Progressives have one shot, and we need to spend it on a leader who will get something done,” Warren said.
But Warren also renewed her attacks on Bloomberg over the billionaire philanthropist’s treatment of female employees. Warren, who saw a surge in fundraising after her attacks on Bloomberg at last week’s debate, resurfaced an allegation that Bloomberg had once told a pregnant subordinate to “kill it”.
A visibly riled Bloomberg replied: “Categorically never said it.”
The billionaire former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, returning to the debate stage as recent polls place him third in South Carolina, was also drawn into an angry exchange with Biden, who questioned his record investing in a private prison company, a move Steyer said he also regretted.
In a withering put down, Biden referred to Steyer as “Tommy come lately” as the billionaire pushed back and argued he had done more to support minority communities than the former vice-president.
As the debate wound to a close the candidates began to move the focus towards more pointed criticism of the Trump administration, particularly the president’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar criticized the administration’s funding cuts to the Centre for Disease Control, the US government agency responsible for helping prevent global outbreaks.
She argued that the president “hasn’t really yet addressed the nation on this topic” and urged the administration to work on better quarantine and treatment plans.
Shortly after the debate Trump, seemingly listening in to the discussion, tweeted: “CDC and my administration are doing a GREAT job handling Coronavirus…”
In 2016, Hillary Clinton won South Carolina with an overwhelming majority against Sanders. That result underlines just how significant a strong showing would be this time around for Sanders who had struggled to attract voters of colour in early states during the 2016 campaign.In 2016, Hillary Clinton won South Carolina with an overwhelming majority against Sanders. That result underlines just how significant a strong showing would be this time around for Sanders who had struggled to attract voters of colour in early states during the 2016 campaign.
On Monday evening Sanders released a list, live on CNN, of how he plans to finance some of his most ambitious policy pledges, including a “Medicare for All” bill to ensure healthcare for all Americans, and the Green New Deal, a radical plan to combat climate change.
His climate change plan would be funded largely by aggressive taxation of the fossil fuel industry, while his healthcare plan would be implemented via a number of funding plans, including a household premium and higher taxes on the super wealthy.
Warren and Klobuchar were looking to capitalize on strong showings at the last debate in Nevada. While Klobuchar enjoyed a surge in New Hampshire and Warren made headlines after forcefully criticising Bloomberg on the debate stage, both are well behind in South Carolina polls and the overall delegate count.