Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg during the Democratic primary debate in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 19, 2020.
Mark Ralston/Getty Images
The first few minutes of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s first debate did not disappoint.
With the first question of the night, Lester Holt turned to Bloomberg’s fellow candidates and asked them to explain why they were better positioned than “a former Republican who spent millions of his own dollars to run in this race.”
Most did not hold back with their opening salvos. Here’s what the candidates had to say about the new face on the stage.
Sen. Bernie Sanders:
In order to beat Donald Trump, we’re going to need the largest voter turnout in the history of the United States. Mr. Bloomberg had policies in New York City of stop-and-frisk, which went after African American and Latino people in an outrageous way. That is not a way you’re going to grow voter turnout.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren:
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 red lining and stop-and-frisk. Look, I’ll support whoever the democratic nominee is, but understand this: Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar:
I actually welcomed Mayor Bloomberg to the stage. I thought that he shouldn’t be hiding behind his TV ads. So I was all ready for this big day. And then I looked at the memo from his campaign staff this morning, and it said that he actually thought three of us should get out of the way. That is what his campaign said. Because we should pave the way for him to become the nominee. … I don’t think you look at Donald Trump and say, ‘We need someone richer in the White House.’
Joe Biden:
The mayor makes an interesting point. The mayor says that he has a great record. That he’s done these wonderful things. The fact of the matter is, he has not managed his city very well when he was there. He didn’t get a whole lot done. He had stop-and-frisk, throwing close to 5 million young black men up against a wall. And when we came along in our administration and said, we’re going to send in a moderator—a mediator to stop it, he said, that’s unnecessary.
Pete Buttigieg:
We have to wake up as a party. The only candidates left standing will be Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg. The two most polarizing figures on this stage. And most Americans don’t see where they fit if they have to choose between a socialist who thinks capitalism is the root of all evil, and a billionaire that thinks money ought to be the root of all power. … Let’s put forward someone who’s actually a Democrat. Look—we shouldn’t have to choose between one candidate who wants to burn this party down and another candidate who wants to buy this party out.
Bloomberg had a lot to respond to, but he stuck to the argument that he was the most electable because he is a centrist and a New Yorker who knows “how to take on an arrogant con man like Donald Trump.”
Warren, Klobuchar, Biden, Sanders, and Buttigieg did not stop their attacks on Bloomberg there. But the level of direct aggression so early in the night—especially from the usually more policy-focused Warren—promised a wilder and more entertaining debate than we’ve yet seen.
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