The ninth Democratic debate held Wednesday night in Las Vegas was nothing short of a brawl for the six Democratic candidates who qualified.
After eight somewhat civil debates, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, squared off against one another.
The event had been Bloomberg’s first onstage appearance after he launched a late bid in November and met the DNC’s threshold to participate in the free-for-all battle. Bloomberg is set to make his initial appearance on the ballot in the highly anticipated March 3 Super Tuesday contests.
Bloomberg’s rivals pounced on him from the outset.
Warren hammered the self-made billionaire, comparing him to President Donald Trump. “So I’d like to talk about who we’re running against, a billionaire who calls women ‘fat broads’ and ‘horse-faced lesbians.’ And, no, I’m not talking about Donald Trump. I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg. Democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women, and of supporting racist policies like redlining and stop and frisk.”
Sanders also hurled insults at Bloomberg. The Vermont senator took the time to highlight Bloomberg’s support of “stop and frisk” policing. Sanders reminded the audience, “that is not a way you’re going to grow voter turnout.”
Biden came next in the line-up. “[Bloomberg] has not managed his city very, very well when he was there. He didn’t get a whole lot done,” he said.
