Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump.
- The top ten contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination faced off Thursday night during the third primary debate of the 2020 election season.
- The biggest question heading into the night was how the candidates would position themselves against their competitors, and who would draw the most blood on the debate stage.
- While the frontrunners focused on promoting their policies, many bottom-rung candidates trained their sights on the one person who wasn't in the room: President Donald Trump.
- Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke called Trump a white supremacist.
- Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Trump is "treating our farmers and our workers as poker chips in one of his bankrupt casinos."
- And California Sen. Kamala Harris called the president "a really small dude."
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The big question going into Thursday night's third Democratic primary debate was who the candidates would spend the most time attacking.
Former vice president Joe Biden, who's been the frontrunner since entering the race in April, trained his sights on Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Both are progressive firebrands, and Biden's decision to target them was likely part of an effort to paint them as being too extreme and position himself as the better alternative.
Meanwhile, Warren, Sanders, and the entrepreneur Andrew Yang adopted a similar strategy. All three spent little time attacking their competitors - even when they were criticized - and instead focused on promoting their own policies.
The other six candidates trained their sights on the one person who wasn't in the room: President Donald Trump.
Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke called Trump a white supremacist.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Trump is "treating our farmers and our workers as poker chips in one of his bankrupt casinos."
And California Sen. Kamala Harris called the president "a really small dude."