Westerville, Ohio
Onstage: Democratic presidential contenders went after emerging front-runner Elizabeth Warren at a debate this week, hammering the Massachusetts senator over the costs of Medicare for All and her ambitious liberal platform. Warren insisted middle-class families would pay less overall for health care under the plan, but refused to say whether their taxes would go up. The author of the plan, Sen. Bernie Sanders, conceded it would require a tax hike. “At least Bernie’s being honest here,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, calling Warren’s plan a “pipe dream.” South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg said that Warren’s health-care solution required “kicking
150 million Americans off their insurance.” He and Klobuchar went after Warren aggressively, hoping to position themselves as moderate alternatives to her as former Vice President Joe Biden fell behind Warren in some national and early-state polls. Biden, for his part, took the opportunity to counter President Trump’s repeated attacks on his son, Hunter, proclaiming “My son did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong.”
All 12 candidates onstage supported the Trump impeachment inquiry, and they took turns excoriating Trump’s handling of the crisis in Syria. Buttigieg, a veteran of Afghanistan, said Trump’s abandonment of Kurdish allies has U.S. forces feeling “ashamed,” while Biden said Trump “knows not a damn thing about foreign policy.” Sanders, 78, appeared vigorous after suffering a heart attack two weeks earlier, and said his health wouldn’t slow his campaign. This week, Sanders received the endorsements of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and two of her firebrand allies, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).