DETROIT — Joe Biden fended off political attacks on multiple fronts during the second night of Democratic 2020 presidential primary debates in Detroit, hitting the former vice president and longtime senator over his record on immigration, race, and crime.
New Jersey Sen.Cory Booker and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio led the charge against Biden, the front-runner in the 26-person Democratic field, according to most polls. They were joined at times by California Sen. Kamala Harris and various other candidates, the tag-team effort resulting in Biden playing defense most of the night. That followed a lackluster performance during the June debates in Miami, when Biden fell prey to an assault by Harris over his 1970s-era opposition to school busing and boasts of working with segregationist senators.
The 10 contenders on stage for the second night of the Motor City series brought a frenetic energy to the event, which rippled through the audience. Protesters twice interrupted proceedings, with shouts about immigrant deportations and criminal justice.
Biden himself predicted the coming onslaught at the start of the debate. “Go easy on me, kid,” Biden told Harris when the pair shook hands. “Tonight, I think Democrats are expecting some engagement here. I expect we’ll get it,” he said during his opening statement.
De Blasio tore into Biden during his introductory remarks for his relationships with wealthy donors, and also jabbed Harris for not wanting to “restructure society” like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a socialist, and liberal populist Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who appeared on the same debate stage the previous night. The New York mayor took an assertive posture throughout the event in a manner similar to another low-polling hopeful 24 hours before, former Maryland Rep. John Delaney.
And that’s not where the echoes between the two debates stop.
Immigration again proved to be a heated issue for the featured members of the crowded pack.
Biden was pressed by both de Blasio and Obama administration housing secretary Julián Castro for his role in the deportation of 3 million people under the former president’s watch.
“We sat together in many cabinet meetings. I never heard him talk about any of this when he was secretary,” Biden said to Castro.
The former mayor of San Antonio countered with a line he’s used on the campaign trail: “Mr. Vice President, it looks like one of us has learned the lessons of the past, and one of us hasn’t.”
Booker piled on Biden for saying immigrants with advanced degrees should be prioritized entry into the country. “That’s exactly what Republicans want, to pit some immigrants against other immigrants,” the senator said.
Booker, who foreshadowed his line of attack against Biden on the 1994 crime bill authored by the then-Senate Judiciary Committee, laid into Biden for his two terms as vice president after he slammed one of two African Americans vying for the presidency over his tenure as the mayor of Newark.
“You want to compare records, and frankly I’m shocked that you do, I’m happy to do that,” Booker said, following a call for “marijuana justice.” “Mr. Vice President has said that since the 1970s, every major crime bill — every crime bill major and minor — has had his name on it,” he added. “You claimed responsibility for those laws, and you can’t just now come out with a plan to put out that fire.”
Healthcare was also fodder for “Medicare for all” proponents to dig at Biden, though the former vice president flipped the script and ripped into Harris over her newly released healthcare platform, criticizing it for costing $32 trillion, ending employer-based coverage, and taking 10 years to roll out. He had earlier described it as a “have-it-every-which-way” proposal.
“Well, they’re probably confused because they haven’t read it,” Harris said, scrutinizing Biden’s healthcare pitch of the Affordable Care Act plus a public option over possible coverage gaps.
“The senator’s had several plans so far,” Biden responded, defending Obamacare. “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.”
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who otherwise had a quiet night, tried to exchange barbs with Biden over his past comments regarding a woman’s place in society.
The other target for their salvos? The current commander in chief.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who brought his climate change agenda to the stage, delivered the most pointed blow, arguing “We can no longer allow a white nationalist to be in the White House.”
Others addressed Trump at the top of the debate during their opening statements.
“Mr. President, let’s get something straight. We love it, we are not leaving it, we here to stay, and we are certainly not going to leave it to you,” Biden told Trump of the country, looking directly into the camera. Castro, during his own introductory remarks, said, “We’re not going back where we came from.” “Donald Trump is not behaving like a patriot,” Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard added. Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet took a personal approach to undermine Trump: “We have a president who frankly doesn’t give a damn about your kids or mine.”
Meanwhile, entrepreneur Andrew Yang stayed mostly above the fray, talking up his idea of a $1,000 monthly universal basic income and job threats from automation.
How likely primary voters react to the war of words is an open, but important question given they will ultimately decide the results of the race.
Chappy Smith, 51, is a “drink the Kool-Aid” Democrat, who’s yet to commit to a candidate. The Dearborn, Michigan resident told the Washington Examiner she’s worried the party doesn’t “have anyone strong enough” to take on Trump, but was turned off by Harris bringing up “that crap” about Biden’s past. Yet Smith said she’d still cast a ballot for her when Great Lake State Democrats go to the polls on March 10, a week after Super Tuesday. “The main thing is that we need to bring sanity back to America,” she said.
Nan Kappa, 69, of Waterford, Michigan, said the tussle between the hopefuls was “necessary” so voters “have a sincere feeling not only about what they say, but the affect.” Kappa is leaning toward Biden for his experience and additionally the “picture and the package” he and wife Jill project to and for the nation. “I know that there’s questions about some of his choices and some of his personal activities, but I think you’ll find that with any one of the candidates,” she said.
An anticipated winnowed crop of contenders will next share a debate stage on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13 in Houston.
