9/11 Gaffe, Technical Difficulties, Spanish Responses: Highlights from ‘BORING’ First Debate

Anthony Gockowski

 

Ten Democratic presidential candidates took to the debate stage in Miami, Florida Wednesday night for the first of a two-night event.

President Donald Trump weighed in on the debate with just one word: “BORING!”

He later criticized NBC News after moderators Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow had to cut to a commercial break to deal with microphone difficulties.

“NBC News and MSNBC should be ashamed of themselves for having such a horrible technical breakdown in the middle of the debate,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Truly unprofessional and only worthy of a FAKE NEWS organization, which they are!”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) represented the Midwest during the first round of debates.

Klobuchar highlights

Early on in the debate, Klobuchar earned a round of applause after taking a shot at Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who said he was the only candidate on stage who had actually singed a bill into law to protect access to abortion.

“There’s three women up here who have fought pretty hard for a woman’s right to choose,” Klobuchar responded.

The Minnesota senator is among the more moderate candidates in the Democratic field, saying she wouldn’t support Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s plan for free college or a government-run health care system.

In fact, only Warren and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio raised their hands when the candidates were asked who would “abolish their private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan.”

“I am just simply concerned about kicking half of America off of their health insurance in four years,” she said before turning her attention to the pharmaceutical industry.

“There are two pharmaceutical lobbyists for every member of Congress—and they are working hard to keep costs high. Big Pharma thinks they own Washington, but they don’t own me,” said Klobuchar.

Kayleigh McEnany, national press secretary for President Trump’s 2020 campaign, fact-checked Klobuchar’s comments on the prices of prescription drugs.

“Amy Klobuchar has either been napping through the Donald Trump presidency or is intentionally lying. The truth about drug pricing: consumers saved $23 billion last year in prescription drugs, first time we’ve seen decreases like this in decades,” McEnany wrote on Twitter.

On the issue of free college, Klobuchar said she does “get concerned about paying for college for rich kids.”

“I can tell you this: if billionaires can pay off their yachts, students should be able to pay off their student loans,” she added.

Moderator Chuck Todd asked Klobuchar how she would broach the subject of “gun confiscation” with her constituents on the Iron Range.

“Well that’s not confiscation. You give them the offer to buy back their gun, but I’ll say this. I look at these proposals and I say: Does this hurt my Uncle Dick in his deer stand—coming from a pro-hunting and fishing state. These proposals don’t do that,” she said.

Minnesota’s Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan was on the ground in Miami to support Klobuchar and appeared on “Meet the Press” as a surrogate for the candidate.

“She’s tough, she’s prepared, she works hard, and she gets things done,” Flanagan said of Klobuchar.

“I’m the granddaughter of an iron-ore miner, the daughter of a union teacher and a newspaperman, the first woman elected to the Senate from the state of Minnesota, and a candidate for President of the United States. That’s America,” she said on Twitter after the debate.

Ryan highlights

Viewers are likely to remember Ryan’s uncomfortable exchange with Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI-02) that came in the second half of the debate.

“The lesson that I’ve learned over the years is that you have to stay engaged in these situations,” Ryan said of U.S. military involvement in the Middle East.

“Is that what you will tell the parents of those two soldiers who were just killed in Afghanistan?” Gabbard said in response. “As a soldier, I will tell you that that answer is unacceptable. We have to bring our troops home from Afghanistan. We are in a place in Afghanistan where we have lost so many lives. We’ve spent so much money.”

“I would just say: I don’t want to be engaged. I wish we were spending all this money in places that I’ve represented that have been completely forgotten and we were rebuilding. But the reality of it is if the United State isn’t engaged, the Taliban will grow,” Ryan responded.

“The Taliban was there long before we came in and they’ll be there long after we leave,” Gabbard shot back.

“When we weren’t in there, they started flying planes into our buildings,” Ryan said.

“The Taliban didn’t attack us on 9/11. Al-Qaeda did,” Gabbard replied.

Earlier in the debate, Ryan reiterated his support for introducing social-emotional learning to every public school in the country.

“We need to start dealing with the trauma that our kids have. We need trauma-based care in every school. We need social-emotional learning in every school,” Ryan said. “We need to make sure that these kids feel connected to the school. That means a mental health counselor in every school in the United States. We need to start playing offense.”

According to the Daily Caller News Foundation, Democratic candidates responded to questions in Spanish on at least eight difference occasions Wednesday night. Not one of the candidates mentioned former Vice President Joe Biden, who leads in the polls and is scheduled to debate Thursday night.

President Trump’s final tweet of the night was:

– – –

Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Democrat Debate 2020” by Noticias Telemundo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related posts

Comments