‘I’m With Bernie’: Debate Sound Bites That May Haunt Candidates

(Bloomberg) -- It’s easier to make a blunder in a high-stakes debate than to have a coveted “breakout moment,” and those slip-ups or off-the-cuff pronouncements may come to haunt Democratic hopefuls long after the #DemDebate tweets die down.

The most memorable exchange across two nights came when Senator Kamala Harris confronted front-runner Joe Biden, accusing him of being insensitive to the plight of African-Americans, a key constituency in the party’s presidential nomination contest.

Harris-Biden will lead the highlights reel. Here’s a selection of other moments from the Miami debates that featured 20 candidates who hope to be their party’s pick to take on President Donald Trump.

Bernie Sanders

Senator Bernie Sanders on Thursday danced around whether or not he would have to raise taxes to fund universal Medicare, before admitting that taxes would go up but it would be offset by the elimination of health insurance premiums.

NBC moderator Savannah Guthrie: “Senator Sanders, I’ll give you 10 seconds just to ask the -- answer the very direct question. Will you raise taxes for the middle class in a Sanders administration?”

Sanders: “People who have health care under Medicare-for-all will have no premiums, no deductibles, no co-payments, no out-of-pocket expenses. Yes, they will pay more in taxes, but less in health care for what they get.”

Elizabeth Warren

Senator Elizabeth Warren has been criticized by some on the left as not fully committing to Medicare for All. She put an end to that in Wednesday’s debate when asked if she supported eliminating private insurance plans and putting all Americans on Medicare.

“Yes,” the Massachusetts senator said. “I’m with Bernie on Medicare for All.”

Julian Castro

Former HUD Secretary and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro said he would make illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to seek asylum a civil violation, and demanded the other candidates also call for the repeal of Section 1325, which classifies it as a criminal offense.

Castro had a terse exchange with former congressman Beto O’Rourke, who wouldn’t commit to decriminalizing border crossing.

“I just think it’s a mistake, Beto. I think it’s a mistake. And I think that -- that if you truly want to change the system, that we’ve got to repeal that section.”

Fortifying the southern border to prevent such crossings has been a key rallying cry for Trump. On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Democrats against trying to “dig back into that abolish-ICE playbook and throw a far-left partisan wrench.”

Jay Inslee

During a discussion on health care policy in Wednesday’s debate, Jay Inslee, governor of Washington state, said that no insurance company should be able to deny women coverage for abortion. He then offered that he was the only candidate to “actually advance the ball” in addressing women’s reproductive health. This was immediately rebuked by Amy Klobuchar.

“I just want to say, there’s three women up here that have fought pretty hard for a woman’s right to choose,” the Minnesota senator said. “I’ll start with that.”

Tim Ryan

Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio seemed to claim the Taliban was behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., which Representative Tulsi Gabbard swiftly refuted.

“The Taliban didn’t attack us on 9/11. Al Qaeda did,” said Gabbard, who served in Iraq and Kuwait as a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard.

Ryan seemed rankled and was cut off by moderators as he tried to clarify. His campaign sent out a rapid response email shortly after the event, stating Ryan knows who was behind the attacks. But for a little-known Midwestern lawmaker barely registering in opinion polls, the screen-shot of his dazed face defined Ryan’s night.

Bill de Blasio

Bill de Blasio emerged blooper-free from Wednesday’s debate, but just before leaving town managed to cause offense by addressing striking workers at Miami International Airport with a quote from Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara: “Hasta la Victoria, siempre!” or “Until victory, always!”

Many in Miami’s large Cuban exile community saw de Blasio’s comment as a coded appeal to socialism and communism. The New York City mayor quickly apologized, saying he didn’t know he was quoting Guevera.

Florida’s Republican Senator Rick Scott said it was an example of Democrats’ supposed embrace of socialism.

Swalwell-Biden

The Democratic generation gap was on full display as California Representative Eric Swalwell, at 38 just a few years above the 35-year minimum age to serve as U.S. president, dredged up a Biden quote from 32 years ago saying the party’s torch should be passed to younger leaders. “I’m still holding on to that torch,” Biden, 76, retorted. After the debate Sanders, 77, said Swalwell was trafficking in “ageism.”

Marianne Williamson

The second night of the debate had fewer overt gaffes but candidates did provide stances that may color their campaigns. That included the utterance that introduced spiritual healer and author Marianne Williamson to millions of Americans -- that the candidates should focus less on outlining policies.

“I tell you one thing, it’s really nice if we have all these plans, but if you think we beat Donald Trump by just having all these plans, you’ve got another thing coming. Because he didn’t win by saying he had a plan,” Williamson said.

Republicans Take Note

Republicans were laser-focused on each debate, and the party’s response on Twitter plotted out lines of attacks the GOP will focus on going into the general election.

In what could a defining Republican made-for-advertising moment, the @GOP twitter account posted a photo of the 10 second night-debate candidates raising their hands when asked if their health care plan would cover undocumented immigrants.

“Let this sink in. Every single Democrat on stage thinks American taxpayers should foot the bill for illegal immigrants to have healthcare.”

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel labeled the idea socialist. “Democrats want a socialist agenda that includes sky high taxes on the middle class while giving free healthcare to illegal immigrants,” she said on Twitter.

Trump, attending the Group of 20 summit in Japan, chimed in as well. “All Democrats just raised their hands for giving millions of illegal aliens unlimited healthcare. How about taking care of American Citizens first!? That’s the end of that race!” he said on Twitter. That was an advance on Wednesday, when the president simply deemed the proceedings “BORING!”

To contact the reporter on this story: Emma Kinery in Washington at ekinery@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kasia Klimasinska at kklimasinska@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Laurie Asséo

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