On Sunday, the 11th Democrat debate was held in Washington D.C. hosted by CNN. The Democrat field has been narrowed to just three candidates, one of which was not on the debate stage. Tulsi Gabbard failed to qualify for the debate after the DNC changed to requirements to qualify. Some say the changes were meant to exclude her.
49% of voters say #LetTulsiDebate. But the political elite/corporate media are trying to erase my candidacy. They don’t want a debate on ending regime change wars, the new cold war & nuclear arms race, and instead investing the trillions wasted on such wars into the American ppl. pic.twitter.com/xvKUA9FL9e
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) March 15, 2020
When asked what consequences China should face for its role in the global coronavirus crisis, Sanders quickly attacked China, saying that China should not have lied to the American people about the extent of the spread of the virus. He then excoriated the president for praising the Chinese for the good work they are doing.
Immediately after chiding the president, he pivoted to praising China and said that now is the time to be working with them. Is anybody listening?
When Joe Biden was asked to respond to a question about the economy and what he would do, he said he would enact a "major, major, major bailout package" that does not reward corporations. His rhetoric seemed like it came straight out of 2008 when he and Barack Obama were campaigning to win the White House. Biden knows how to campaign during a recession, and the coronavirus seems to threaten a new recession.
Sanders said that just as he voted against the 2008 bailout, he would not support a bailout for the economic harm caused by the coronavirus.
While responding to questions about the coronavirus, Sanders seemed to confuse the coronavirus with the ebola crisis of 2014. He used the term ebola repeatedly. He said the ebola crisis has exposed the weakness of the American health care system. Biden referred to the crisis as the SARS crisis.
Bernie Sanders twice refers to the #coronavirus as "Ebola" before later correcting himself. pic.twitter.com/k2C4nob2bO
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 16, 2020
When Biden and Sanders debated about campaign funding, they both tried to prove that they represented the little guy. Biden boasted that the average campaign contribution was $51.
But Sanders pointed out that Biden's super pac was running negative ads about him. Biden shot back, "You have nine super PAC's, do you want me to list them? to which Sanders responded, "Yes, please list them. Biden replied with his famous, "C'mon, give me a break." But Sanders was not having it, and he asked Biden to get rid of his super PACs.
Biden: "You have 9 super PACs, do you want me to list them?"
Bernie: "Yes, please list them"
Biden: "Come on man, give me a break." pic.twitter.com/y1CSuMRjr4
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 16, 2020
Biden was asked where he stands on sanctuary cities since he opposed them in 2007. When asked if undocumented immigrants arrested by local police should be turned over to immigration officials, Biden had a one-word answer, "No."
THIS IS INSANE:
Moderator asks if they would have immigration officials turn over illegal immigrants they catch in "sanctuary cities" to police:
Joe Biden: "No."
Bernie Sanders: "Of course not."
This is what we're up against in November. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/kok0fUVTXa
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) March 16, 2020
Biden, in a later response, said that "xenophobia is a disease." He then accidentally called an undocumented person an undocumented "alien."
Biden promised that in the first 100 days of his administration, "no one would be deported."
Biden promised that if he was elected that he would appoint a black woman to the Supreme Court. He also promised that he will pick a woman to be vice president.
"I commit that I will, in fact, appoint a woman to be vice president. There are a number of women who are qualified to be President tomorrow."
Who should Joe Biden pick as his VP? pic.twitter.com/QaD4AdqOso
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 16, 2020
Both Biden and Sanders promised there would be no new fracking, the drilling technique that changed America from a dependent nation to an independent oil producer. Biden went so far as to say, "no ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period..."
Joe Biden: “no ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period, ends” #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/STbBrh8DLg
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) March 16, 2020
Biden, overall, was a more likable candidate. His shining moment was when he took down the idea that a single-payer health care system would do a better job of handling the coronavirus crisis. He pointed to Italy, a country with a single-payer health care system, with an exponentially spreading coronavirus outbreak. Italy has the most coronavirus cases in the world, second only to China.
Joe Biden said having Medicare for All in the US would not help solve the coronavirus crisis.
“With all due respect to Medicare for All, you have a single payer system in Italy. It doesn't work there. … That would not solve the problem” https://t.co/T5K3gcEp7m #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/CI9vAhbtCX
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) March 16, 2020
In fact, things are so bad in Italy that authorities there are preparing for desperate measures as their hospital beds fill. They have drafted a policy to limit intensive care to people under 80 that have less than 5 chronic illnesses, according to The Telegraph.
The headline reads, Italians over 80 'will be left to die' as country overwhelmed by coronavirus. Italy does not have to implement that measure yet, but they are preparing for extreme measures.
Loser: Bernie came off as passive-aggressive, unwilling to really go after Biden's lies. He also, again, expressed admiration for authoritarian accomplishments.
Bernie Sanders doubles down on his praise of Fidel Castro’s literacy program by praising communist China’s economic policies
pic.twitter.com/WJqwrONP1I— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 16, 2020
C'mon man! Give me a break!