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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) makes a point as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg listen during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Paris Las Vegas on February 19, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Wednesday night's Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas was the most combative of the primary so far.
- The addition of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave the other five candidates on stage a new target, and they hit the centrist Democrat particularly hard on criminal justice reform and sexual harassment.
- Here are five moments that stuck out.
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Wednesday night's Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas was jam-packed with cutting exchanges and meme-worthy moments.
Here are five that particularly stuck out.
'A billionaire who calls women fat broads'
Sen. Elizabeth Warren skewered former Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City during the first minutes of Wednesday night's Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas.
Warren went after her billionaire opponent by likening both his persona and his policies to those of President Donald Trump.
"I'd like to talk about who we're running against - a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians," Warren said. "And no, I'm not talking about Donald Trump. I'm talking about Michael Bloomberg."
Warren went on to say she'd support any Democratic nominee but considered Bloomberg a deeply flawed alternative to Trump.
"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," Warren went on. "Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another."
Bloomberg is 'nice to some women'
Warren went after Bloomberg again on his record with women, pushing him to explain why many of his former employees at Bloomberg LP entered into non-disclosure agreements with the company, preventing them from speaking publicly about their complaints.
"I hope you heard what his defense was. 'I've been nice to some women.' That just doesn't cut it. The Mayor has to stand on his record," Warren replied. "Mr. Mayor, are you willing to release all of those women from those non-disclosure agreements so we can hear their side of the story?"
Bloomberg dramatically rolled his eyes in response and then insisted that none of his former employees' complaints were directed at him, but noted some "maybe didn't like a joke I told."
Bloomberg added that the women entered the NDAs voluntarily and should have their privacy respected. Warren then challenged him to publicly release the women from the agreements on live television. Former Vice President Joe Biden also jumped in to press Bloomberg on the issue.
John Locher/AP Images
Democratic presidential candidates, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, left, listens as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speak during a Democratic presidential primary debate Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, in Las Vegas.
'We're not going to throw out capitalism'
The richest man on stage took issue with Sanders' democratic socialism, arguing that the Vermont lawmaker wants to turn the US into a communist country.
"I can't think of a way that would make it easier for Donald Trump to get re-elected than listening to this conversation," Bloomberg said. "This is ridiculous. We're not going to throw out capitalism. We tried that, the other countries tried that - it was called communism - and it just didn't work."
Sanders responded by arguing that the US is already a socialist society, but the government benefits go largely to the "very rich" through tax breaks as the working class suffers under unprecedented economic inequality.
"Let's talk about democratic socialism, not communism, Mr. Bloomberg - that's a cheapshot," he said. "We are living, in many ways, in a socialist society right now. Problem is, as Dr. Martin Luther King reminded us, we have socialism for the very rich, rugged individualism for the poor."
'Are you trying to say that I'm dumb?'
Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, both ideological moderates, repeatedly went after each other on Wednesday night. At one point Buttigieg attacked Klobuchar's inability to name the president of Mexico in a recent interview with Telemundo.
"Are you trying to say that I'm dumb? Or are you mocking me here, Pete?" Klobuchar shot back. "People sometimes forget names."
Buttigieg replied that Klobuchar exhibited inadequate knowledge of Mexican politics and border security issues.
"You're staking your candidacy on your Washington experience. You're on the committee that oversees border security," he said. "And were not able to speak to literally the first thing about the politics of the country to our south."
A 'stop and frisk' pile-on
Bloomberg was attacked for his longtime support of the policing tactic known as "stop and frisk," which gives officers free rein to detain and search civilians on the streets without a warrant or an arrest.
While Bloomberg was mayor, police stops soared 600% from 2002 to 2011 and disproportionately targeted black and Latino men, with an estimated 86% to 90% of those stopped not charged with any criminal offenses, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union.
In 2013, a federal judge ruled that New York's application of stop-and-frisk policing amounted to an unconstitutional "policy of indirect racial profiling."
Bloomberg has been forced to apologize for implementing the policy, which he supported until very recently, and on Wednesday night he said he was "embarrassed" the practice "got out of control" under his watch.
Warren seized on Bloomberg's phrasing, saying: "When the mayor apologizes, listen very closely to his apology. The language he used isn't about stop-and-risk, it's about how it turned out. This isn't about how it turned out - this is about what it was designed to do. It targeted black and brown men from the beginning."
Biden also jumped in, arguing that the issue is not whether Bloomberg apologized for the policy, but the use of the "abhorrent" practice itself.
"It was a violation of every right people have," Biden said, adding that Bloomberg continued the policy even after the Obama administration demanded it end.
- Read more:
- Elizabeth Warren skewers Michael Bloomberg, calling him 'a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians'
- Elizabeth Warren picks Michael Bloomberg apart over sexual harassment allegations at his media company
- Elizabeth Warren skewers Michael Bloomberg, calling him 'a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians'
- Bloomberg may have entered the race to stop Sanders, but his campaign mostly threatens other moderate candidates
Grace Panetta contributed to this report.
Warren came out SWINGING at Bloomberg pic.twitter.com/3D8bnvvm4m
- Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) February 20, 2020"We are not going to beat Donald Trump with a man who has who knows how many non-disclosure agreements." - Warren confronts over Bloomberg over his non-disclosure agreements pic.twitter.com/jaKPC43Iwf
- Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) February 20, 2020"We have socialism for the rich, and rugged individualism for the poor." - @BernieSanders addresses the "socialism" attack pic.twitter.com/HdignRJ1tv
- Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) February 20, 2020"Are you trying to say that I'm dumb? Or are you mocking me here, Pete?"
Watch Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg go toe-to-toe in last night's Democratic debate in Nevada https://t.co/G5euYQHPJQ pic.twitter.com/VjgCSCV0vB
- POLITICO (@politico) February 20, 2020And now, a thread of candidates attacking Bloomberg over Stop and Frisk
BIDEN: pic.twitter.com/AoAoRQsU2M
- Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) February 20, 2020