Here are the 9 biggest moments from the fifth Democratic debate in Atlanta
Biden made a powerful argument for his candidacy based on the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker politely sparred over Warren's wealth tax plan.
Warren and Sen. Cory Booker had a remarkably polite exchange over the details of Warren's wealth tax, which would place a 2% tax on individuals with assets over $50 million and a 6% tax with individuals who hold over one billion in assets.
While Warren asserts that a wealth tax is justified based on the fact that almost every Americans build their wealth based on public resources, Booker said that public policy should focus more on helping Americans become entrepreneurs and build up wealth of their own.
"We as Democrats have got to start talking not just about how we tax from a stage, but how we grow wealth in this country amongst those disadvantaged communities that are not seeing it." Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Elizabeth Warren square off on the wealth tax. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/968bAfX7po
— CNBC (@CNBC) November 21, 2019Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Sen. Kamala Harris sparred and traded criticisms of each other.
Gabbard and Harris reignited a feud initially sparked during the September Democratic debate, when Gabbard took aim at Harris over her controversial record on criminal justice.
In the November debate, Harris attacked Gabbard for her frequent, pointed criticism of the Democratic party's foreign policy doctrine, which Gabbard casts as promoting dangerous interventionism.
"It's unfortunate that we have someone on this stage who during the Obama administration spent four years full-time on Fox News criticizing President Obama," Harris said.
In turn, Gabbard accused Harris of "trafficking in lies, smears, and innuendos because she cannot challenge the substance of the argument I'm making."
WATCH: Sen. Harris heavily criticizes Rep. Gabbard's record, and Gabbard fires back. pic.twitter.com/7fLwSVpLbu
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 21, 2019Sanders pointedly criticized the Israeli government and said the US needs to re-think who their allies are.
Just a few days after the Trump administration controversially announced it would no longer condemn illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory as "inconsistent with international law," Sanders called out the Israeli government at the debate.
"It is no longer good enough for us to be simply pro-Israel. I am pro-Israel, and we must treat the Palestinian people with the respect and dignity they deserve. The situation in Gaza where youth employment is above 70% is unsustainable. We need to be thinking about who our allies are," Sanders said.
Former Vice President Joe Biden awkwardly put his foot in my mouth in saying America needs to "punch away" at the issue of domestic violence.
Biden said repeatedly we have to keep “punching” at the issue of domestic violence.
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) November 21, 2019.@JoeBiden, talking about the problem of domestic violence, says we have to "keep punching at it, punching at it, punching at it" in order for it to end. pic.twitter.com/FuMw1ih74r
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 21, 2019Harris made a powerful plea to recognize and lift up the voices of black women in the Democratic party.
In an exchange with Buttigieg, Harris called out the Democratic party, for, in her view, taking black voters and especially black women for granted in its electoral politics.
"Candidates have taken certain constituencies for granted, and when it gets near election time they show up to a black church they've never been before.....at some point black women get tired of saying 'thank me for showing up' and say 'show up for me," Harris said.
Sen. Harris on the relationship between the Democratic party and African Americans voters: "The question has to be, 'where you been and what are you going to do?'" #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/bGHKZBKtz2
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 21, 2019Biden also falsely claimed that "the only black woman elected to the US Senate" supports his bid for the presidency, which Harris forcefully refuted from the stage.
Biden misspeaks and says he had support from "the only African-American woman that had ever been elected to the United States Senate," before correcting that he meant "first."
Harris's reaction:pic.twitter.com/oIL1hcMfWS
Booker brought down the house with a targeted shot at Biden still declining to endorse marijuana legalization, saying, "I thought you might have been high when you said it."
.@CoryBooker calls out @JoeBiden for his position that marijuana shouldn't be legalized:
"I thought you might have been high when you said it." pic.twitter.com/5v6i0UqANF
Near the end of the debate, Buttigieg and Gabbard traded shots at each other over military policy.
Buttigieg and Gabbard, the only two military veterans on stage, had a contentious back-and-forth about their respective visions for the US military going forward.
After Gabbard accused Buttigieg of wanting to place US troops in Mexico to fight drug cartels, Buttigieg claimed that Gabbard had taken his remarks out of context, and shot back at her: "I have enough judgment not to sit down with Bashar al Assad," referencing Gabbard's infamous 2017 meeting with the Syrian dictator.
Read more:
Andrew Yang says if he's elected president he'll tell Putin: 'I'm sorry I beat your guy'
Tulsi Gabbard is more well-known after Hillary Clinton took a jab at her, but also less popular
Biden said we need to 'keep punching at' domestic violence and the internet was not amused
Now Tulsi wants in on this, criticizes him for floating idea of sending troops to Mexico.
Pete says she's taking him out of context. Then to Assad:
"If you're talking about experience, let's talk about judgment. I would not have sat down with a murderous dictator like that."
Popular Right Now
Advertisement