The second round of the Democratic debates has mercifully concluded. Night two on July 31 featured the remaining 10 candidates in the insanely crowded field of 2020 hopefuls, including enemy of fun/former Vice President Joe Biden. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), who sparred with the former veep over his cooperation with segregationists the last time they shared a debate stage, also showed up for a rematch.
The other contenders included former Obama HUD secretary Julián Castro, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), tech bro/universal basic income advocate Andrew Yang, and noted ska lover/New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
As The New York Times pointed out, this may be the last time Gillibrand, Gabbard, Bennet (who?), Inslee, and de Blasio get to grace the debate stage, as their polling and donor numbers are in danger of not meeting the threshold to qualify for the Democratic presidential debate in September. Needless to say, the bottom five contenders are probably hoping their performances tonight result in the bump in the polls and donor cash they need to stay in the race.
Check out our recap of the event and make sure to vote in our poll for tonight’s winner.
10:47 p.m. ET: Why did Biden not seem to know his own website? 30330??? What????
lmao Biden pic.twitter.com/jklkN0xYwj
— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) August 1, 2019
10:37 p.m. ET: Regarding Gillibrand’s closing statement, nothing undermines confidence in a candidate’s ability to beat Donald Trump than when they explicitly say some version of “I can beat Donald Trump.”
10:34 p.m. ET: This snoozefest could have used 100 percent more Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
10:29 p.m. ET: Castro is the only candidate making salient points in favor of opening an impeachment inquiry. The Trump impression was pretty good too. The key is to exercise restraint.
10:24 p.m. ET: Harris mentions that people have gone to prison for far less than the obstruction of justice outlined in the Mueller report. She fails to mention she probably sent those people to prison when she was a prosecutor.
10:20 p.m. ET: “Shock and awe.” There’s a deep cut we haven’t heard since Paris Hilton was a thing.
10:18 p.m. ET: Booker runs out the clock on a foreign policy question a bit by taking an easy shot at Trump: “I will not do foreign policy by tweet.”
10:09 p.m. ET: Inslee turned in a decent audition to be EPA chief tonight.
9:54 p.m. ET: Kirsten Gillibrand says that the first thing she’ll do as president is “Clorox the Oval Office.”
Step one: Clorox the Oval Office.
Step two: Restore US climate leadership and act to fight climate change.#DemDebate pic.twitter.com/UR4wq39NJC— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) August 1, 2019
9:45 p.m. ET: Inslee is the only person on stage treating climate change with the urgency it requires. “Our house is on fire. We’ve got to stop using coal within 10 years.”
“Middle-ground solutions, like the Vice President has proposed … are not going to save us.” Gov. Jay Inslee explains why fighting the climate crisis is his top priority. #DemDebate https://t.co/FNcIRdHoQp pic.twitter.com/aBZhNXBN0l
— CNN (@CNN) August 1, 2019
9:40 p.m. ET: They’re finally discussing climate crisis beyond just a mention in the opening remarks, thank god. Also, this seems reasonable:
Inslee, bless his heart, should ignore every question on which he cannot distinguish himself and just talk climate. “I am probably not going to heal America’s racial divide. Arctic sea ice extent is at record lows.”
— ‘Weird Alex’ Pareene (@pareene) August 1, 2019
9:21 p.m. ET: Asking de Blasio why the police officer involved in Eric Garner’s death is still on the force is the first good question from Tapper during this whole debate. That includes both nights.
Kirsten Gillibrand disagrees with Bill de Blasio’s handling of the NYPD officer who killed Eric Garner: “He should be fired. He should be fired now.” https://t.co/smAKZynlzS #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/f9juPsWaQ5
— CNN (@CNN) August 1, 2019
9:18 p.m. ET: Booker gets his turn to sink easy layups on Biden:
Booker lands a body blow on Biden, points out how his invocations of Obama are conveniently selective pic.twitter.com/YbetXGdPn4
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 1, 2019
9:09 p.m. ET: Things are looking bad for Biden when even de Blasio is scoring easy applause breaks off him.
9:02 p.m. ET: Candidates are earning easy applause breaks by dunking on Biden. Case in point:
Julián Castro pushes back against Joe Biden’s immigration policies: “One of us has learned the lessons of the past and one of us hasn’t… What we need are politicians that actually have some guts on this issue.” https://t.co/smAKZynlzS #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/WQeX6ZWZih
— CNN (@CNN) August 1, 2019
8:56 p.m. ET: Here are some key moments from Biden and Harris’s exchange on healthcare:
Joe Biden criticizes Kamala Harris’ health care plan: “This is the single most important issue facing the public. And to be very blunt and to be very straightforward, you can’t beat President Trump with double talk on this plan” #DemDebate https://t.co/qVnxTglehL pic.twitter.com/gfH4F50zZv
— CNN (@CNN) August 1, 2019
Harris responds to Biden’s criticisms: “Unfortunately, Vice President Biden, you’re just simply inaccurate in what you’re describing. The reality is that our plan will bring health care to all Americans under a ‘Medicare for All’ system.” https://t.co/iHUZhu7oJl #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/MHIU2qUTcs
— CNN (@CNN) August 1, 2019
8:46 p.m. ET: It would be easier to take Bennet more seriously if he didn’t sound like Jeremy, The Simpsons‘ squeaky-voiced teen.
8:38 p.m. ET: Few things underscore the glaring absence of Sanders and Warren’s clear-eyed progressivism like listening to Biden extol the virtues of private health insurance.
8:32 p.m. ET: Few things more painful than watching Biden pause for an applause break that never comes.
8:26 p.m. ET: Some context on the protests that have interrupted Booker’s opening statement:
Whole debate interrupted with “FIRE PANTALEO” chants aimed at de Blasio. Pantaleo is the Staten Island cop involved in Eric Garner death.
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) August 1, 2019
8:18 pm ET: Bennet’s opening statement played at 33 rpm when it should have been 45.
8:13 p.m. ET: Total Silicon Valley move for Yang to show up to a presidential debate sans tie.
8:05 p.m. ET: Hot mic picks up a “go easy on me, kid” from Biden to Harris.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris just shook hands before facing off tonight on stage for a #DemDebate rematch.
“Go easy on me, kid,” Biden told Harris. https://t.co/MtjzOp1QX3 pic.twitter.com/4tEsqUVHtL
— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) August 1, 2019
8:04 p.m. ET: Kamala Harris greeted with significantly louder applause than Biden.
