DETROIT (CN) – The second of two Democratic presidential debates held in Detroit and broadcast on CNN wrapped up Wednesday night with the remaining 10 candidates. Much like Tuesday’s event, viewers watched spirited back-and-forth discussion on issues like health care, racism, gun violence and foreign policy as candidates tried to generate campaign momentum.
Senator Bernie Sanders’ campaign said Wednesday it got a post-debate bump after he talked about big changes to Medicare and the U.S. tax code. But lesser-known hopefuls like author and activist Marianne Williamson also made a mark with thoughtful and frank answers to complicated subjects like slavery reparations.
“Anything less than $100 billion is an insult,” Williamson said of reparations during Tuesday’s debate.
On Wednesday, former Vice President Joe Biden shared the stage with California Senator Kamala Harris and eight other candidates. Biden promised he would eschew pleasantries for this round.
“I’m not going to be as polite this time,” Biden said, referring to his sparring with Harris in the first debate. “Because this is the same person who asked me to come to California and nominate her in her convention.”
Once the debate began, the ten candidates had one minute to introduce themselves. Each candidate tried to hook the audience with quick phrases designed to get a reaction.
“Children belong in schools, not cages.” Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said to slightly delayed applause.
Even though the audience was warned about outbursts by the CNN moderators, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was interrupted by protesters who screamed so loud the debate stopped for a moment. Booker tried to talk over them but eventually had to pause when they refused to stop.
Healthcare was a hot topic a day ago and it quickly grew heated this evening. Harris and Biden went right at each other with the details of their plans and talked of rising costs and people who are not financially able to obtain health insurance. The insurance companies were called out for their profit-at-all-costs philosophies that cause people to go without coverage. However, Bennet was specifically called out by Harris for what she termed as Republican talking points when he suggested her plan would increase taxes on the middle class.
“You gotta stop with that,” she said.
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang talked about his business experience and how it relates to healthcare. If healthcare obligations were removed from those start-up companies, he said small business could thrive.
Joe Biden appeared to grow angry at all the back and forth with the details of the proposed plans and hit New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Harris for their numbers.
“I don’t know what math you do in New York. I don’t know what math you do in California.”
Protesters were much louder in this debate than last night with two women incoherently screaming during a discussion on immigration when Biden was asked if he would resume the Obama-era border policies. The discussion centered on the idea of what to do with people seeking asylum and if they should be detained as they currently are under the Trump administration.
As Biden grew heated during the discussion, Booker lamented about playing into the hands of Donald Trump with infighting about immigration, saying they were playing right into his hands.