As the field begins to narrow, things are heating up between Democrats who have announced their bid for president in the 2020 election.
Twelve democrats — Tulsi Gabbard, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Tom Steyer, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, Andrew Yang, Robert “Beto” O’Rourke, Joe Biden, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris — took to the stage in Westerville, Ohio on Oct. 15 in a debate that was co-hosted by The New York Times and CNN.
Democrat frontrunner Biden took time during the debate to defend his son Hunter from allegations that he had improper business dealings in Ukraine. Hunter Biden has come under fire in recent weeks over accusations that his work in Ukraine back in 2015 — while his father was serving as vice president — created a conflict of interest.
Some of the accusations about Hunter Biden’s dealings in Ukraine came from the highest office in the United States. President Donald Trump tweeted on Oct. 13 that Hunter Biden had “totally disappeared,” adding in part “now looks like he has raided and scammed even more countries.”
At the debate, Anderson Cooper asked Biden “If it’s not okay for a president’s family to be involved in foreign business, why was it okay for your son when you were vice president?” Biden responded “Look, my son did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong. I carried out the policy of the United States government, in rooting out corruption in Ukraine and that’s what we should be focusing on.”
Biden went on to say that his son’s statement on the matter “speaks for itself” before quickly pivoting to talks of removing Trump from office. Biden went on to accuse Trump, Rudy Giuliani and their associates of being “thugs” and liars. Cooper shifted back to the question of Biden’s son’s dealings in Ukraine and asked “As you said, your son Hunter today gave an interview, admitted that he made a mistake and showed poor judgement by serving on that board in Ukraine. Did you make a mistake by letting him — you were the point person on Ukraine at the time?”
Biden repeated his previous assertion that his son’s statement “speaks for itself,” mentioned that his son had served as attorney general of Delaware and said that he was “proud” of his son’s judgement.
Syria has remained a hot-button issue over the last several years and Trump’s plan to withdraw United States troops from Syria sparked disagreement between Gabbard and Buttigieg.
Gabbard, a major in the Hawaii Army National Guard, addressed what she referred to as “the reality of the situation” in Syria.
“The slaughter of the Kurds being done by Turkey is yet another negative consequence of the regime change war that we’ve been waging in Syria,” Gabbard said. “Donald Trump has the blood of the Kurds on his hands, but so do many of the politicians in our country from both parties — who have supported this ongoing regime change war in Syria that started in 2011 — along with many in the mainstream media who have been championing and cheerleading this regime change war.”
Gabbard went on to say that both CNN and The New York Times have “smeared veterans like myself for calling for an end to this regime change war.” Buttigieg responded that Gabbard’s assessment of the situation was “dead wrong.” He said that the “slaughter going on in Syria” was not a consequence of a U.S. presence in the country but rather was the fault of Trump. Buttigieg said that the president had betrayed allies of the U.S. as well as American values.
Another standout exchange in the debate centered on the ever-popular issue of healthcare. Klobuchar said that she believes that the best option for healthcare was following what she characterized as Barack Obama’s original plan which was to have a public option. Warren responded that she had studied “why hardworking people go broke and one of the principal reasons for that the cost of healthcare.” Klobuchar said that while she appreciated Warren’s work — which included putting out plans for healthcare — she said that “the difference between a plan and a pipe dream is something that you can actually get done.”
While many of the Democratic presidential hopefuls spoke passionately about impeaching Trump and removing him from office, Gabbard and Sanders raised bigger issues around talks of impeachment. Gabbard said that if the House voted to impeach and the Senate did not vote to remove Trump from office, then the president would walk out and feel exonerated, which she said would deepen the divides in the country.
“It is absolutely imperative to go forward with impeachment. I hope that he is impeached. But I think what would be a disaster, if the American people believe that all we were doing is taking on Trump,” Sanders said.
