Top moments from the last Democratic debate of 2019

Seven presidential candidates took the stage in Los Angeles to debate on issues from health care to diversity to tax plans. Here are the biggest moments from the last Democratic debate of the year. Here are the debate’s top moments.

-Democrats sound off on Trump impeachment

The debate kicked off Thursday night with a question on why the majority of Americans do not support impeachment and how they can make the case to voters.

Six out of seven candidates focused on what they described as Trump’s corruption.

“This president has made corruption originally his argument, that he would drain the swamp. And yet he came to Washington, broke that promise and has done everything he can for the wealthy and the well connected,” Warren said.

-Sanders and Klobuchar part ways on coming USMCA vote

Sanders and Klobuchar divided on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that will soon come to a vote in the Senate after the House of Representatives approved the measure late Thursday.

The trade deal, an update to NAFTA, earned the support of an overwhelming majority of Democrats in the House after a push for stronger labor protections delivered the support of the AFL-CIO, the country’s largest federation of labor unions.

Sanders said the trade deal was a “modest improvement” that would do nothing to stop outsourcing, and that he would not support it.

-Warren on critics who say her proposed tax hikes would stifle growth: ‘They’re just wrong'

Warren, who has proposed a bigger tax hike on the wealthy than anyone else in the race, was asked to answer criticism from economists who say her plans would stifle growth and investment.

“Oh — they’re just wrong,” Warren responded, prompting cheers and applause from the Los Angeles crowd.

Warren’s wealth tax proposal includes slapping a 2% tax on net worth between $50 million and $1 billion and a 6% tax on wealth over 10 figures.

-Climate change takes center stage

The debate focused on climate change for what seemed like more time on Thursday than in earlier sessions.

Moderator Tim Alberta, a chief political correspondent for Politico, asked whether candidates would support a federal program to subsidize the relocation of American families and businesses away from cities like Miami that scientists have said will be climate danger zones in decades to come.

-Warren and Buttigieg spar over ‘billionaires in wine caves’

Warren and Buttigieg delivered the big fight that everyone was waiting for following weeks of attacks between the two.

After Warren criticized Buttigieg for a recent fundraiser hosted in a wine cave, Buttigieg accused Warren of issuing a “purity test” that she could not meet herself.

“The mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and served $900 a bottle wine. Think about who comes to that,” Warren said, referring to an event Buttigieg held in Napa earlier this month.

-Tough talk on China

The candidates took a hard line on China’s human rights track record, with some of the strongest language coming from Buttigieg.

“If they do anything like Tiananmen Square...they will be isolated from the free world. And we will lead that isolation diplomatically and economically,” Buttigieg said.

The focus comes at a tense time in U.S.-China relations. China has rounded up its minority Uighur Muslim community into camps it says are designed to provide vocational training, but which critics describe as concentration camps.

-Klobuchar bombards Buttigieg

Klobuchar tore into Buttigieg during a heated back-and-forth about electability and political experience.

Klobuchar has trailed Buttigieg in national polls for months. Both have carved out more moderate positions than candidates such as Warren or Sanders and are viewed as direct competitors in races like the Iowa caucus.

Klobuchar, who has largely focused her attacks on Trump rather than other Democrats, began by criticizing Buttigieg’s previous remarks about the experience of other Democratic candidates.

“I just think you should respect our experience, when you look at how you evaluate someone who can get things done,” she said.

Klobuchar bombards Buttigieg
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