***Live Updates*** Democrats Debate in Detroit
Ten Democrats will take the stage in Detroit, Michigan, on Tuesday evening for CNN’s presidential debate.
Those debating on Tuesday evening include: Marianne Williamson, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), former Rep. Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke (D-TX), former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, former Rep. John Delaney (D-MD), Montana Gov. Steve Bullock.
Dana Bash, Jake Tapper, and Don Lemon will moderate tonight’s debate and tomorrow’s.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates. All times eastern.
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11:45 PM: On CNN, Marianne Williamson reiterates that Trump can’t be beaten with wonkiness and obscure policy details. She talks about a “sociopathic economic system” that is “heartless.” She says when she was growing up, corporations cared about its employees and not just about its shareholders. Elites who will forever be clueless about voters can mock Williamson all they want, but a Democrat who wants to win the nomination with a message that could also work in a general election battle against Trump may want to adopt her message about a “heartless” economic system that no longer looks out for its workers. It’s a winning message.
Williamson also indicated that if she doesn’t win the nomination, she’d support Sanders or Warren.
10:52 PM: Sanders tells CNN’s Anderson Cooper union workers will not have to give up wages increases to protect the healthcare plans that they have under his plan. He says the way to win in 2020 is to energize voters in white working-class communities in addition to increasing turnout in black and Latino communities by not using the status quo playbook.
Sanders is asked if he and Warren are on a collision course.
“She runs her campaign. I run my campaign. That’s what happens,” he answers, saying Warren is a friend of his that he respects.
Sanders also brags about having two million donations days after Warren bragged about having one million donations.
Sanders campaign already fundraising off of his “I wrote the damn bill” line.
Don’t tell me what’s in Medicare for All. I wrote the damn bill! #DemDebate
Make a contribution and get our sticker now –> https://t.co/cGNDyKXZ5k
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 31, 2019
10:50 PM: Klobuchar says on CNN that Democrats must decide if they want to run like they are aiming for DNC Chair or the presidency.
10:45 PM: Williamson supporter tells Joel: “The only question, she said, was “whether the country is ready for a Jewish female, speaking almost prophetic, Christ-like words.”
10:30 PM: Closing statements. Thankfully, the last of the debate cycle for many.
Bullock– Talks about growing up in a single-parent household that lived at times paycheck to paycheck. He used to deliver newspapers to the governor’s mansion and now is raising his kids in it. He says he is for a “different way” and it’ snot about left v. right
Williamson — Says the country needs a plan to solve institutionalized hatred and white nationalism. Correctly argues that Democrats meed more than wonkiness and intellectual argument to defeat Trump. She talks about radical truth telling about why we are sick. Truth-telling about race and what people are owed for injustices. She says the country’s foreign policy is based on symptoms and not about cause. She rips corporate overloads and says until the Democrats speak about the deep corruption, those who voted for Trump will vote for Trump and others will stay at home. She says Democrats can’t fight dog whistles. They must override them with new voices that want to atone for mistakes and love future generations.
Delaney — He says Trump is the symptom of the disease of divisiveness. Talks about his national service” plan and how he can unite the country.
Ryan — He talks about a politics that is “new and better” and not “left and right.”
Hickenlooper — Asks Americans to imagine facing a life-threatening operation. He asks if they would want someone with a track-record instead of someone who is all talk. He talks about his track record in the private sector and the government.
Klobuchar — Tells a story about a girl who said it was not her fault before dying of opioids. She says she can win the Midwest and will govern with integrity and make you proud.
Beto — We have a president who uses fear to try to drive us further apart. He speaks about having hope in one another and faith in the future that includes everyone. Talks about his history of accomplishments that has included everyone and the broad coalition of voters that supported him in his failed Texas Senate race in 2018.
Mayor Pete — He says GDP is going up and life expectancy is going down. He says Democrats must defeat Trump and defeat Republicans in Congress so big that it reunites GOPers with their conscious.
Warren — Tells the story about the commuter college that changed her life. She says the election is about opportunity. Every policy is about opportunity — will it go to billionaires our our kids? Promises real change come 2021 after beating Trump.
Sanders — Talks about growing up in a rent-controlled apartment in Brooklyn and living paycheck to paycheck. He’s running to transform this country and stand with the working class of American that has been decimated for the last 45 years.
10:22 PM: Buttigieg says vision more important than age as debate turns to age issues.
10:16 PM: Buttigieg says he will bring troops home from Afghanistan in year one, adding that there will soon be people fighting there who were born after 9/11. Beto says during his first term and he “will not start new wars” and there is no reason to send troops all over the world.
Hickenlooper looks at it as a humanitarian issue and would leave troops there because there will be a humanitarian disaster that will frighten everyone. “We’re going to have to be in Afghanistan,” the No Labels “3.8%” candidate says.
10:15 PM: Sanders, when asked how his foreign policy will be different from Trump’s, says that “Trump is a pathological liar. I tell the truth.” He says America should not be the world’s policeman and should support policies that allow for more diplomacy.
10:05 PM: Warren backs her wealth tax. Warren says it’s time to tax the top 1/10 of 1%…
She says with two cents on the dollar after $50 million can fund universal child care, universal pre-K, raise the wages of every childcare worker and preschool teacher, universal tuition-free college, $50 billion into HBCUs, cancel student loan debt for 95%…
Buttigieg talks about a public service loan forgiveness plan and blasts the Trump administration and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who unfortunately is from Michigan, for letting for-profit colleges that prey on veterans and turning the Department of Education into a “predatory lender.”
Williamson calls out centrist Democrats, says she wonders why some people on the debate stage are even Democrats. She says Democrats must use the instruments of government to better the lives of people.
10:02 PM: Buttigieg rips “so-called Christian Senators” for blocking raising the federal minimum wage.
9:55 PM: Ryan says the country’s wealth has been transferred to the 1% or China. He calls for a Chief Manufacturing Officer who will ensure electric vehicles and solar panels are built in America. When pressed on whether he will support Trump’s tariffs, he says he would have to reevaluate because Trump, who he says is all tactics and no strategy, has “bungled” them.
Beto says tariffs are a mistake and trade war without allies is also a mistake. Hickenlooper says trade wars are for “losers.” Sanders rips people who line up at the federal trough to get military contracts.
Warren says anyone who thinks the trade debate is about tariffs does not get it. She says the new NAFTA will allow pharmaceutical companies to just charge Mexicans, Americans, and Canadians even more for drugs.
9:45 PM: Lemon asks Klobuchar what she would say to Trump voters who prioritize the economy over his bigotry and racism. She says little kids woke up and heard the president refer to Baltimore as nothing more than a town of rats. She says economic opportunity means economic opportunity for everyone… she says the African-American community must be helped but so should rural Americans.
Amy Klobuchar: “We come from a country of shared dreams, and I have had it with the racist attacks. I have had it with a President that says one thing on TV, that has your back and then you get home and you see those charges for prescription drugs and cable & college.” #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/8R1HzYT22N
— CNN (@CNN) July 31, 2019
Beto wants to touch upon the very foundation of the country. “It was literally on the back of those who were kidnapped and brought here by force.” He says the legacy of Jim Crow is alive in well in every aspect of society. He says he will sign Jackson-Lee’s reparations bill into law.
Beto O’Rourke: “There’s a new battleground state, Texas, and it has 38 Electoral College votes, and the way that we put it in play is by going to each one of those 254 counties.” #DemDebate #DemocraticDebate pic.twitter.com/a38AtubKL0
— The Hill (@thehill) July 31, 2019
Williamson says $500 billion in payments of debt that is owed is her plan. She says America will not heal unless reparations are paid. She says the economic gap between blacks and whites comes from a “great injustice that has never been dealt with” — 250 years of slavery + 100 years of “domestic terrorism.”
“It’s… payment of a debt that is owed. That is what reparations is.”
Author Marianne Williamson earned applause and cheers when she mounted a defense of her plan to offer $200 billion to $500 billion in reparations to the descendants of enslaved Africans in the US. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/MCCtLWcZ45
— CNN (@CNN) July 31, 2019
Williamson also said that “wonkiness” will not defeat Trump’s “dark psychic force.”
Marianne Williamson on the “dark underbelly of America” and the “dark psychic force” that Donald Trump is bringing into the country #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/DxrxdOltWp
— Variety (@Variety) July 31, 2019
Sanders touts his Thurgood Marshall plan.
Team Bernie bashing CNN’s moderators & directing voters to their in-house media operation https://t.co/gjTCpyeeS2
— Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) July 31, 2019
9:40 PM: Warren says we need to call out white supremacy for what it is — “domestic terrorism.” Lemon teed up the question for Warren. She says she has a plan for education that says we have to build a better education system while acknowledging what has happened on race…$50 billion for HBCUs and cancels student loan debt for 95% of people with debt.
Warren on combating the rise of white supremacy: “We need to call out white supremacy for what it is: domestic terrorism. And it poses a threat to the United States of America. … The way we do better is to fight back and show something better” https://t.co/GdNMcGXWgQ #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/dvHhMHEfg9
— CNN (@CNN) July 31, 2019
Buttigieg says the “racial divide lives within me” when asked about how he can convince black Democrats to vote for him given he has not handled race issues as well as he could have in South Bend. He talks about his Douglass Plan that he recently released and says systemic racism touches every aspect of American life. He says black people’s pain is treated less seriously when they go to the ER.
“The racial divide lives within me” is the kind of weird thing you accidentally say when you are into McKinsey-style metaphorical bullshit instead of dealing with reality and power.
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 31, 2019
9:39 PM: Debate turns to race. Lemon tees up a question for Beto on how he would best confront Trump on race. Beto blasts Trump for his “go back” comments. He says “hate crimes are on the rise” and a Mosque in Texas was burned to the ground when Trump signed the travel ban. Beto says we must embrace our differences and talks up El Paso–says it is the safest city because and not despite of immigrants.
Hickenlooper speaks about an “urban agenda,” and he says he did major police reform 10 years before Ferguson.
9:35 PM: Buttigieg with a strong answer about needing to beat Trump to get climate change policies enacted. He says he will be a veteran who will call Trump out on his bone spurs. He accuses Trump of playing his voters for suckers–says wages are not rising and all Trump has done is give corporations and the rich tax cuts.
Sanders, on the fossil fuel industry: “What do you say about an industry that’s, for short term profits, destroying this planet? I say that’s criminal activity.” @WLNS #DemDebate
— Aaron Jordan (@WLNSAaronJordan) July 31, 2019
Williamson says Flint is just the tip of the iceberg. She says Denmark, South Carolina, could be the next Flint. She says she lived in Grosse Pointe and what happened in Flint would not have happened in Grosse Pointe and talks about environmental justice.
Williamson: Flint crisis is part of US society’s “dark underbelly.”
“If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this President is bringing up in this country…Democrats are going to see some very dark days.” pic.twitter.com/hiH0VYBoNq
— CNN (@CNN) July 31, 2019
Most cheers/applause from voters here tonight – @ewarren to @JohnDelaney: “I don’t understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running to the president of the United States to talk about what we really can’t do and shouldn’t fight for. I don’t get it.“
— Maura Barrett (@MauraBarrettNBC) July 31, 2019
9:25 PM: Warren talks about her $2 trillion plan for a green industrial policy. She says anyone in the world can use the innovations that come from it so long as it is built in America.
Hickenlooper rails against guaranteeing a job to everyone who wants one… He then talks about building bridges with countries like China to deal with climate change.
Warren says she put a real policy on the table and nobody wants to talk about it and instead just throw out “Republican talking points.” She says Washington works great for oil companies but not for regular people.
9:21 PM: Klobuchar, when asked who is making promises just to get elected, punts. But she dismisses plans to give free college to wealthy kids.
9:16 PM: Warren asked if she says she is a capitalist to assure voters she is a safer choice than Sanders. Warren says she is a fighter who took on Wall Street, banks, and CEOs and beat them. She says people said Obama and Trump could not be elected. She says “we can’t choose a candidate we don’t believe in” just because Democrats are too scared to do anything else. She says Democrats should not convince other Democrats to vote for candidates they don’t believe in. That’s potentially a future argument against Biden.
Warren rips Hickenlooper and says why bother running for president just to tell people what we can’t do. She says the biggest issue in DC is corruption and Democrats need to have the courage to fight back. She says the healthcare industry does not have a “God-given right to suck money” out of the system.
Sanders says it will be tough to defeat Trump and Democrats need to excite the base and voters. He talks about eliminating college debt.
From NBC: Google: 1 hour into #DemDebate, how the candidates have changed in search interest:
1. Delaney +3,400%
2. Ryan +3,200%
3. Hickenlooper +2,500%
4. Bullock +1,400%
5. Klobuchar +1,100%
6. O’Rourke +900%
7. Williamson +900%
8. Buttigieg +850%
9. Warren +450%
10. Sanders +350%
9:13 PM: Sanders makes the argument that every poll has had him defeating Trump, even in key swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania. Sanders articulating the electability argument that his campaign has been constantly touting. Sanders has been polling better against Trump than most of the Democrats not named Biden.
9:11 PM: Hickenlooper says you might as well “FedEx the election to Donald Trump” if Democrats go all-in on far-left policies like the Green New Deal that Sanders backs.
9:00 PM: On gun control, Buttigieg says he was the first generation to see school shootings. Says we have produced a second and “we dare not allow there to be a third” before saying “something is broken.” He says school shootings is the worst part of being a mayor and high school is tough enough without having to worry about “whether you’re going to get shot.”
Sanders touts his D- rating on gun control. He says he will take on the NRA and expand universal background checks and do away with the gun-show loophole.
Buttigieg talks about needing structural reform like giving DC statehood, abolish electoral college, reform the Supreme Court, Constitutional amendments to better enact gun control measures.
Williamson says it’s time to start over with people who have not taken donations from corporations and doesn’t blame Americans for thinking politicians are all “yada yada yada.”
Here are the #DemDebate speaking times by candidate so far https://t.co/fmeCN9c4V4 pic.twitter.com/8iphBuhYjO
— CNN (@CNN) July 31, 2019
8:56 PM: Williamson says Democrats need to talk about not just about symptoms but the causes of all of these illnesses. Williamson talks about how we have “sickness care.”
8:51 PM: Bullock says Democrats who want to offer health care to illegal immigrants and decriminalize illegal immigration are disconnected from most of America.
Tim Ryan says if people want to come into the country, they should at least “ring the doorbell.” He says you don’t decriminalize people just walking into the United States. He says “undocumented people can buy health care too” and it is not a stretch to ask them to pay for their health care.
8:50 PM: Sanders, when asked why offering free health care and college to illegals will not encourage more to come, mumbles something about strong border security. He immediately and nervously changes the subject and criticizes Trump for being a xenophobe who is “demonizing” migrants.
8:45 PM: Debate turns to immigration. Buttigieg asked if he will decriminalize illegal immigration…. He says illegal border crossings will be illegal if he becomes president. He claims Americans want comprehensive immigration reform. He says civil penalties for illegal border crossing unless fraud is involved. He says raising hands = everything wrong with debates. Bash strangely cuts him off.
Warren, on decriminalization of illegal immigration, says the criminalization statute gives Trump the ability to separate families. She says what we can’t do is “not live our values.” She says the point is not about criminalization and tries to dodge the question about having seen “cages of babies” at the border.
Sen Elizabeth Warren on immigration: “I have seen the cages of babies” at the southern border. We need to “live our values” and treat better asylum seekers.
— Niraj Warikoo (@nwarikoo) July 31, 2019
Beto O’Rourke: “In the face of cruelty and fear from a lawless President, we will choose to be the nation that stands up for the human rights of everyone… We will ensure each one of us is well enough and educated enough and paid enough to realize our full potential” #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/155Ns9Z1Yv
— CNN (@CNN) July 31, 2019
8:35 PM: Buttigieg talks about Medicare for all who want it but also dodges the question about whether middle-class taxes will increase.
Beto talks about his Medicare for America plan and says middle-class taxes will not be raised. He says people like Bullock, who spoke about “wish-list economics,” just want to change Obamacare “on the edges.”
Folks on this stage are campaigning on “Wishlist Economics” — and there’s no truer example than Medicare for All. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/QlwWlOoKZq
— Steve Bullock (@GovernorBullock) July 31, 2019
Klobuchar says she was depicted as a “street fighter from the Iron Range”
Sanders insists health care is not a business and points out the healthcare industry will run ads on CNN. He is testy and accuses Tapper of using Republican “talking points” re: Medicare for all. His campaign manager on Sunday accused the establishment media of being biased in favor of corporatist positions.
I wrote the damn bill! #MedicareForAll #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/4YtVuDbPWc
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 31, 2019
Medicare for All is single-payer healthcare. That’s it. That’s the policy.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 31, 2019
Warren says doctors and patients need to fill out so many forms because “it gives the insurance companies a chance to say no.”
Williamson says she is normally out there with Warren and Sanders but on health care, their ideas may make it difficult to win and govern.
Buttigieg, as he has said many times, says Republicans will call Democrats crazy socialists whether they adopt conservative of far-left policies. So he tells Williamson Democrats should not be concerned about what Republicans think.
8:26 PM: Sanders says people come out of hospitals in Canada without a bill. He says Delaney is wrong with his criticisms. He says health care is a human right that he will fight for.
“You’re wrong”: Sen. Bernie Sanders defends himself against John Delaney’s criticism of “Medicare For All.” https://t.co/jh9Xk24ZCC pic.twitter.com/UZVCgFDLu7
— CNN (@CNN) July 31, 2019
Delaney says he is not about “subtraction”–telling half the country that “your health insurance is illegal.”
Warren says Democrats are not about trying to take away health care from anyone. She says that’s what Republicans are trying to do and Democrats should stop using Republican talking points. Warren name-checks Ady Barkin and gets cut off (Tapper criticized for not having good social IQ re: debate flow just like Chuck Todd):
Tapper cuts off E Warren while she’s talking about Ady Barkin. Does he aspire to be Chuck Todd?
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) July 31, 2019
Warren says Barkin, who is dying from ALS, has great health insurance and it is still not working for him. Warren says costs will go down for middle-class families and costs will go up for corporations.
8:16 PM: Candidates actually get opening statements.
Bullock says he’s a pro-choice, pro-union, populist Democrat who won three elections in a red state. He says working-class Americans aren’t waiting for a “revolution.”
Williamson says Americans must rise up again against an amoral economic system like they did during the abolition movement. She says conventional politics is not the answer.
Delaney says Democrats go down the road Sanders and Warren want to take us —Medicare for all and “free everything.” He compares them to Mondale, McGovern, and Dukakis and says they will turn off independent voters. He says he’s a product of the American dream and the son of a construction worker. He says he is about real solutions and not impossible promises.
Ryan—American is great but not everyone can access America’s greatness.
Hickenlooper — He talks about opening up his craft brewery and becoming a top mayor and governor. He says he beat the NRA and did not expand government.
Klobuchar — “Let’s get real.” She talks about her blue-collar background and says “we come from a country of shared dreams.” She says she has had it with a racist president. She says she has “bold ideas” that are “grounded in reality.” She says she is from the Midwest and has won every race.
Beto — He says America will redeem itself and stand up to a cruel president. He speaks about a country where “each one of us is well enough and educated enough and paid enough to realize our full potential.”
Buttigieg — He says he is running for president because the country is “running out of time.” He talks about endless wars, climate change, and an economy that is not working for everyone. He says Democrats must summon the courage to walk away from the past and try something different. He says 12 years before “we reach the horizon of catastrophe.”
Warren — She says Trump, who “disgraces” the presidency every day, favors a rigged system that has “kicked dirt in the faces of everyone else.” She says Democrats will not win with “small ideas and spinelessness.” She calls for Democrats to be the party of big structural change.
Sanders — He blasts Amazon for not paying a nickel in federal income tax while Americans are homeless. He says fossil fuel industry gets billions in tax breaks while destroying the environment. It seemed like he was channeling a bit of Mario Cuomo and John Edwards before tapering off.
8:15 PM: The Heartland’s Tim Ryan (D-OH), perhaps looking for Megan Rapinoe’s endorsement, does not put his hand over his heart:
Is Tim Ryan protesting here or did he just forget to put his hand on his heart? #DemDebate2 pic.twitter.com/0Yqdrw3Qjb
— Nicole Goodkind (@NicoleGoodkind) July 31, 2019
Awkward moment as Tim Ryan is the only candidate on stage who doesn’t have his hand over his heart
— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) July 31, 2019
8:10 PM: CNN filling up time… Has feel of a wrestling match with very long intros to eat up time.
I’m sitting in a hotel room with my team. It feels like we are about to watch the most boring football game in history.
— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) July 30, 2019
8:05 PM: Candidates are introduced and appear on stage. Warren pats Sanders on the back.
7:55 PM: Democrats will try not to give the Trump campaign more material for campaign ads:
7:50 PM: The winner tonight could be former Vice President Joe Biden, who will be on stage tomorrow with nine other Democrats, if the so-called “Mod Squad” decides to go after Sanders and Warren and make the argument that Democrats must nominate a more centrist candidate to better defeat President Donald Trump.
Ahead of the CNN debate, the Detroit Choir just performed “America the Beautiful.” Did Beto O’Rourke take a knee in protest? #DemDebate
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) July 30, 2019
7:45 PM: The Pundit/Strategist/Campaign Manager/Communications Director/Tactician-in-Chief will be watching as always:
President Trump says he will be watching the upcoming CNN Democratic presidential debates pic.twitter.com/NYDghk4ucB
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 30, 2019
7:35 PM: Many Democrats still wondering why the popular Montana governor is not running for Senate:
New Face at Democratic Debate: Montana Gov. Steve Bullock https://t.co/43F4BVHiu1 via @BreitbartNews
— Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) July 30, 2019
I started my career as a union-side labor lawyer. At night, I’d tell my kids bedtime stories of the brave men and women who were fighting for justice and a fair shot at a better life.https://t.co/zKwI4nc2oR
— Steve Bullock (@GovernorBullock) July 30, 2019
7:30 PM: Warren, Sanders, Buttigieg, and O’Rourke have already qualified for the next round of debates. Klobuchar is on the fence. Williamson, Ryan, Delaney, Hickenlooper, and Bullock are unlikely to qualify for the next round of debates, and this could be their last debate unless they have a breakout moment and then capitalize on it in the next couple of weeks.
Breitbart’s Joel Pollak is at the debate in Motown:
Feel the love @marwilliamson #DemocraticDebate #CNNDebate pic.twitter.com/zQkx4BUshB
— Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) July 30, 2019
Dr. Cornel West outside #DemocraticDebate pic.twitter.com/1mxbe8PaFD
— Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) July 30, 2019
Democrat supporters and @realDonaldTrump supporters face off near #DemocraticDebate #CNNDebate pic.twitter.com/xy7ngSg5E8
— Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) July 30, 2019
Black Lives Matter protesters confronting police:
(Photos: Joel Pollak/Breitbart News)
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