The first night of the first Democratic debate is in the record books with the first group of candidates giving it their all on the stage in Miami. Wednesday night turned out to be a major win for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the only top tier candidate to appear on the first night. Standing center stage and coming off a recent polling upswing, Warren took many opportunities to compare and contrast herself with her opponents that will be on stage Thursday for the second night.
Full Night 1 debate video
Here is the complete debate video courtesy of YouTube.
Candidates (From left to right on stage): Bill de Blasio, Tim Ryan, Julian Castro, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, Jay Inslee, John Delaney
Moderators: Savannah Guthrie, Lester Holt, Chuck Todd, Rachel Maddow, and José Diaz-Balart
Original Air Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Location: Arsht Center in Miami, Florida
What happened during night 1?
As expected, Elizabeth Warren took the first question, followed by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, then former congressman Beto O’Rourke. The economy was the focus during the first round of questioning with each candidate on stage agreeing with each other that, in their view, the economy under President Trump is benefitting the wealthy rather than the working class. In other words, they would concede that the economy is humming, but the question is how proportional the benefits have been.
On the topic of healthcare, the moderator asked for a show of hands on who would eliminate private health insurance. Mayor Bill De Blasio and Sen. Elizabeth Warren were the only two candidates who indicated their willingness to abolish private health insurance outright. The discussion that followed was probably some of the most explosive of the night as each candidate tried to outdo each other in terms of how they view the matter of healthcare as being a supremely eminent human right.
In the end, Warren may have come out on top saying that, in her view, she just believes that profit motives in health insurance hurt patients and why should we bother keeping them around? She also accused her fellow candidates of being too fearful of taking on the issue.
The topic of immigration was also fairly heated, especially between former HUD Secretary Julian Castro and former Congressman Beto O’Rourke. Castro made the point that while O’Rourke has an immigration plan, it doesn’t go far enough in decriminalizing border crossings, a point that drew discussion from other candidates. Sen. Amy Klobuchar would not agree that immigration violations should be decriminalized instead of saying that laws must be established and followed.
New York Mayor Bill De Blasio probably had the most interruptions and interjections while other candidates were speaking. De Blasio often used the opportunities to claim that he was the toughest on the stage in terms of pushing a progressive agenda.
Now it’s up to the candidates on Thursday night to continue the discussion.
More heavy-hitters on night 2
As we discussed a few days back, the majority of candidates polling in double-digits and high single-digits will be appearing the second night of the debate. This situation, though sought to be avoided by the DNC, seemed to materialize as Elizabeth Warren was the only top-tier candidate randomly selected for the first night. Former representative Beto O’Rourke also received a much-needed bump in attention which he received as being the next highest-polling candidate next to Warren.
Thursday, June 27, 2019, will feature the remaining 10 candidates on stage, a list which includes Marianne Williamson, John Hickenlooper, Andrew Yang, Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Michael Bennet, and Eric Swalwell.
Where can I find the latest Democratic debate information?
As always, bookmark our page dedicated to keeping up with the 2020 Democratic Primary Debate schedule. There you will always find the latest most up-to-date information about all you need to know for the Democratic primary debates.
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