The Democratic presidential race is getting hotter. During their latest debate in South Carolina – which comes ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary – Dems took aim at each other. Of course, special attention was paid to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
That’s not surprising, considering that Sanders is the frontrunner after wins in New Hampshire and Nevada. When they weren’t busy talking over each other, the candidates all fought to stand out. Along the way:
Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg said Sanders will lose to President Trump in November.
Sanders cited his "unprecedented" grass roots support across the country and said his key to victory is a massive voter turnout.
Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg warned Democrats could lose both the White House and the House if Sanders heads the ticket.
For her part, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar said Trump will win re-election if Democrats keep tearing each other apart.
To that end, Sanders took plenty of heat over the cost of his universal healthcare plan – and his support of communist programs in Cuba and China. At one point when he was reasoning that bad regimes can make good decisions, he was booed by the audience.
Speaking of other countries, former VP Joe Biden said he would make Russia pay for any further election interference. This, as billionaire Tom Steyer accused President Trump of continuing to side with a hostile foreign power.
Biden also pledged to go after U.S. gun manufacturers if he becomes president.
The candidates criticized Trump over his administration's response to the growing coronavirus threat. As part of that, Bloomberg and Biden slammed Republican budget cuts in federal health agencies.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren went after Bloomberg’s electability, saying the core of the Democratic Party will never trust him. Bloomberg is a former Republican. He dismissed criticism of his candidacy as a "sideshow."
In a feistier moment, he also firmly rejected Warren's claim that he once advised a pregnant woman to get an abortion.
At the end of the day, all the candidates showed they were on that stage to gain momentum. It's also the last before 14 states vote in next week's Super Tuesday contest.
So who “won?” To ask social media, President Trump. As for the assembled candidates, there is no clear winner – though Sanders takes the crown for speaking time (at 15:43). Klobuchar came second at 13:29, Bloomberg was third at 13:22 and Warren came in fourth at 13:12. Biden was fifth, speaking for a total of 12-minutes and 31-seconds...while Buttigieg followed (with 12:20) and Steyer came in last (with 7:09).
Source: CBS News