Biden and Harris do battle, face attacks in combative U.S. Democratic debate
DETROIT, (Reuters) - Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden and rival Kamala Harris battled over healthcare and came under attack from other candidates on their criminal justice records in a contentious and sometimes angry debate yesterday.
On the second of back-to-back nights of debates among Democrats seeking the chance to face Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election, Biden and Harris were at the center of a growing fight over healthcare that has split the Democratic Party and dominated the first candidate encounter in Detroit on Tuesday.
Biden, who struck a sharper and more aggressive tone than in the first debate, ridiculed Harris’ contention that her recently unveiled healthcare plan would not require a middle-class tax increase or eliminate private insurance plans.
“You can’t beat President Trump with double-talk on this plan,” Biden told Harris. “The plan no matter how you cut it costs $3 trillion. It will require middle-class taxes to go up, not down. Thirdly, it will eliminate employer-based insurance.”
Harris rejected Biden’s description as “simply inaccurate” and ripped into his proposal to build on former President Barack Obama’s healthcare plan, popularly known as Obamacare, and include a government-run option, saying it would leave millions uninsured.
“In 2019 in America for a Democrat to be running for president with a plan that does not cover everyone, I think is without excuse,” said Harris, a U.S. senator.
Harris was on the defensive about her healthcare plan early in the debate, with others including U.S. Senator Michael Bennet chiming in with criticism.
“We need to be honest about what’s in this plan,” Bennet said. “It bans employer-based insurance and taxes the middle class.”
Harris also came under fire from U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard, who questioned her criminal justice record when she served as attorney general in California.
“I’m deeply concerned about this record. There are too many examples to cite, but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations then laughed about it when asked if she ever smoked marijuana,” Gabbard said.
The heavy focus on Biden and
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