Dem Debate: The Gloves Come Off As Candidates Skewer Billionaire Michael Bloomberg

(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS (AP) – New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg played defense in his presidential debate debut, as Democrats savaged the former mayor with questions about his record and past comments related to race, gender and his personal wealth.

The aggressive confrontation in Las Vegas threatened to further scramble the party’s urgent quest to defeat President Donald Trump in November. Bloomberg, the former New York mayor, was forced to defend his divisive record on race, gender and Wall Street in his debate-stage debut. Sanders, appearing in his ninth debate of the 2020 primary season, tried to beat back pointed questions about his health and his ability to defeat Trump as a self-described “democratic socialist.”

Bloomberg’s fielded attacks from all 5 contenders; one of the most glaring was from Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who targeted Bloomberg’s alleged inappropriate comments to women and the LGBTQ community:

Bloomberg was firm and unapologetic about his wealth and how he has used it to affect change important to Democrats.

While Bloomberg was the shiny new object in Wednesday night’s debate, the Democratic candidates also raised pointed questions about Bernie Sanders’ take-no-prisoners politics.  Mike Bloomberg has nabbed three new congressional endorsements on the heels of his rocky debate performance, underscoring his staying power in the Democratic primary race despite an onslaught of attacks from opponents. Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Nita Lowey of New York and Pete Aguilar of California all endorsed Bloomberg Thursday. That brings his total number of congressional endorsements to 15, behind only Joe Biden, who has more than three times that amount.

Among other issues, gun control:

There were also tense moments between Fort Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttegieg and Senator Amy Klobachar:

The ninth debate of this cycle featured the most aggressive sustained period of infighting in the Democrats’ yearlong search for a presidential nominee.

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