In the last television confrontation before the primaries began, the left favorites Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren fought a violent exchange of blows.
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren exchanged blows about a woman’s chances of victory at the last TV debate of the Democratic US presidential applicants before the primaries began. Sanders denied Warren’s allegation that he told her at a private meeting in late 2018 that a woman could not win the November election against incumbent Donald Trump.
“I didn’t say that,” said Sanders at the Tuesday evening (local time) debate in Des Moines, Iowa. However, Warren did not move away from her portrayal.
“Can a woman beat Donald Trump? Look at the men on this stage,” said Warren. “They lost ten elections together. The only people on this stage who won every single election they participated in were women: Amy and me.” Warren referred to Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, who had also qualified for the TV debate.
Sanders and Warren refused to shake hands
Sanders and Warren are both candidates for the left wing of the Democrats. In addition to these two US senators, moderate ex-US Vice President Joe Biden and moderate former Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, along with Senator Klobuchar and billionaire Tom Steyer, also took part in the debate. Sanders said if he did not win the nomination, he would do everything in his power to ensure that the Democratic candidate defeats “the most dangerous president in our country’s history” in the November election.
The CNN broadcaster – which hosted the debate with the Des Moines Register newspaper – showed that Warren did not accept Sander’s outstretched hand immediately after the event. Instead, the two candidates, who are seeking a similar electorate, started a short discussion, the content of which could not be heard, and then turned their backs on each other without a handshake. Biden, Sanders, Warren and Buttigieg are at the forefront in surveys. The debate among the democratic candidates in Iowa was otherwise only controversial on certain points, such as health system reform, and was civilized.
The first area codes will be held in Iowa on February 3. The primaries in the various US states determine who the Democrats will send against Republican President Trump in November. The first vote in Iowa sends out an important signal. The TV debates are a kind of pre-selection of the candidates.
Central question: Who is the most promising candidate?
Central to the debate on Tuesday evening was the question of which candidate incumbent Trump could beat. Former Vice President Biden said: “We can overcome Donald Trump for four years, but eight years of Donald Trump would be an absolute disaster and would fundamentally change this nation.” Buttigieg said to the voters: “If you’re used to voting for the other party, but you can’t look your children in the eye and tell them about this president, join me.”
The candidates unanimously declared that they would reduce the US military engagement in the Middle East in the event of an election victory. Sanders again accused Biden of having supported the Iraq war. Biden replied: “It was a mistake, and I admit it.” There was also criticism of Trump’s approach to the conflict with Iran.
Currently, twelve Democrats are still running to challenge Trump in the presidential election. The field has shrunk significantly: Originally, almost 30 Democrats had announced ambitions for a presidential candidacy. It was the largest field of applicants in the history of the party.
African American candidate gives up
It was only on Monday that Senator Cory Booker, another contender, dropped the sail. Booker was the most prominent African-American candidate among the Democratic presidential applicants. Only white people were on the podium on Tuesday evening. The Democrats had recently tightened the conditions for participation in the debates. Until Friday, candidates had to show certain minimum values in surveys and in the amount of donations.
The television debate in Iowa’s capital Des Moines was the seventh of its kind. The format continues after the primaries begin: the next debates are scheduled for February.
(APA / AFP / dpa)
–
