Democratic debate highlights: Kamala Harris goes after Joe Biden, Eric Swalwell says to ‘pass the torch’

The first Democratic primary debate of the 2020 election is over, and one of the winners appears to be California Sen. Kamala Harris.

Harris was a forceful voice throughout the debate, speaking passionately about President Donald Trump’s border policy and confronting former Vice President Joe Biden in an emotional exchange on race and forced busing.

“That was one of those things where you feel the weather shift,” moderator and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said following the debate. “It was magic in the moment.”

California Rep. Eric Swalwell also stood out several times during the crowded debate, invoking Biden’s 1988 presidential campaign slogan to “pass the torch” to a younger generation. He also went after South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg over his response to a local police shooting.

Here are highlights from the second night of the debate.

The first Democratic presidential debate ended with Biden earning the most speaking time across both nights. Harris finished second overall, and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker — who debated Wednesday night — ended up more than a minute behind her in third.

After several tense exchanges, here’s a lighter moment involving Sanders’ expressive hand and Biden’s expressive face.

Unlike Wednesday night, Rachel Maddow and Chuck Todd didn’t have to cut to a commercial after experiencing technical difficulties.

Here’s some of the reaction Biden is receiving for saying he opposed the Department of Education ordering forced busing for segregated schools, a move to integrate schools that had been upheld by the Supreme Court in the famous Brown v. Board of Education decision.

Harris drew the loudest applause of the night after confronting Biden over comments he made about working with two segregationist senators to fight student busing in the mid-1970s.

“I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground,” Harris said. “But… it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two U.S. senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country.”

Biden responded by saying his opponents were mischaracterizing his past, and that he “did not praise a racist.” But Harris confronted Biden on his history of opposing busing in Wilmington, Del.

“I did not oppose busing in America. What I opposed was busing ordered by the Department of Education,” Biden said.

“There was a failure of states to integrate public schools in America,” Harris shot back, speaking about her own history with busing. “That’s when the federal government must step in. That’s why we have the Voting Rights Act! The Civil Rights Act!”

Immediately after the exchange, the Harris’ campaign shared a photo of the California senator as a young girl, who has spoken on the campaign trail about the fact her class was just the second after busing integrated Berkeley Public Schools.

“My time’s up, I’m sorry,” Biden said, seemingly voluntarily cutting his response short.

Buttigieg was forced to address race and the police force in South Bend, a city that has been roiling over the recent death of a black man fatally shot by a white officer.

A quarter of the population in the Indiana city is black, but just 6 percent of the police force is. Asked why the force isn’t more diverse, Buttigieg said, “I couldn’t get it done.”

At about the halfway point in the debate, Biden had spoken the most of any candidate.

The orange ribbon being worn by Swalwell has drawn enough attention to lead to a 3,800 percent spike on Google, according to Google Trends.

So why is Swalwell wearing an orange ribbon? It’s to honor Jaime Guttenberg, a 14-year-old who was among along 17 killed during a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in February 2018.

Harris drew a strong response from the crowd after passionately attacking Trump’s border policy, which has led to the separation of families and the forced detainment of children.

“I will immediately put in place reviewing cases for Asylum and release children from cages. And I will make sure that the microphone that this president holds in her hand reflects the values of the country.”

President Donald Trump, watching the debate from the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, weighed in immediately after all 10 candidates on stage raised their hands.

Williamson, an author and spiritual healer, quickly shifted away from her question to attack Trump, saying her Democratic opponents’ detailed policy plans wouldn’t be effective against Trump’s slogans.

Swalwell took the first swipe at Biden by invoking his 1988 campaign for president.

"Joe Biden was right when he said it was time to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans when he said it 32 years ago,” Swalwell said.

“I’m still holding onto that torch,” Biden responded with a smile.

After the stage devolved into chaos with multiple candidates attempting to talk over one another, Harris interjected with a line that quickly ended the bickering on stage.

“America does not want to witness a food fight. They want to know how we’re going to put foot on their table,” Harris said, drawing a loud ovation.

Biden, who was asked about comments he made about not demonizing the rich, immediately pivoted to attack President Donald Trump and the tax cut he signed into law at the end of 2017.

“Donald Trump has put us in a horrible situation,” Biden said

To kick off the debate, Sanders was asked by Savannah Guthrie if taxes would go up for the middle class if he were elected president. Sanders attempted to avoid the question, but Guthrie pressed the Vermont senator for a direct response.

“People who have health care under ‘Medicare-for-all’ have no premiums, no deductibles, no co=payments, no out-of-pocket expenses,” Sanders said. “Yes, they will pay more in taxes, but less on health care for what they get.”

Round two of the first Democratic primary debate of the 2020 election officially began at 9 p.m.

Candidates have 60 seconds to answer questions, and 30 seconds to respond to follow-ups. That means if Democratic hopefuls go after Biden, the former vice president will benefit with additional airtime. The debate will last two hours.

There were no opening statements, though each of the 10 candidates will have the opportunity to deliver closing remarks.

Everyone expected ratings would be strong for the first Democratic primary debate, but no one thought they’d be this strong.

The first round of the debate, which aired Wednesday night, pulled in 15.3 million viewers across NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo, according to Nielsen, beating predictions of 8 million viewers made by several media experts. Even NBC executives didn’t expect ratings to top 10 million viewers, according to CNN.

"We had a lot of eyeballs and I’m confident we’re going to have just as many tonight,” DNC chairman Tom Perez told the Washington Post’s Eric Wemple. “The more people that watch our candidates, the more people are going to like our candidates.”

Despite the impressive showing, the numbers fell far behind the 24 million viewers who tuned into Fox News to watch then-candidate Donald Trump make his debut during the first Republican primary debate of the 2016 election cycle.

One day after appearing onstage during the first night of the first Democratic primary debate, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was forced to apologize after drawing criticism for shouting a Cuban revolutionary slogan at a rally in Miami.

De Blasio, rallying alongside cargo workers at Miami International Airport, shouted “Hasta la victoria, siempre!” (“Ever on to victory!”), a phrase that was a rallying cry for former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and long associated with Communist leader Ernesto “Che” Guevara, according to the Associated Press.

Here are the 10 Democratic presidential contenders who will face off tonight, in the order they’ll appear on stage:

Need to catch up on Wednesday’s action? Here’s what you missed.