Democratic debate: Start time, candidates, how to watch and stream on CBS and BET

The tenth Democratic presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle takes place Tuesday night in South Carolina with Bernie Sanders taking the stage as the clear frontrunner in the race.

Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, has pulled far ahead of former Vice President Joe Biden after the party’s first three contests, both in polling numbers and pledged delegates. Also ahead of Biden in terms of delegates is former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg, with Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota trailing behind.

“Biden would need to win South Carolina for a comeback to be a real possibility,” wrote election prognosticator and FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver, damning Biden with faint praise by pointing to the former vice president’s loss in Nevada over the weekend as his best result so far. Biden has run for president three times in the past 32 years (1988, 2008, and this year), and still has yet to win a single primary or caucus.

Former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, who isn’t even on the ballot in South Carolina, will once again be on stage. The billionaire, who is self-funding his campaign, will hope for a better performance tonight after having faced criticism for his flatfooted response to having employees sign non-disclosure agreements about questionable comments he allegedly made. Following the debate, Bloomberg said he would release women from three non-disclosure agreements and allow them to speak publicly for the first time.

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Tonight’s debate stage will swell back to seven candidates, thanks to the return of hedge fund manager turned philanthropist Tom Steyer. Despite having won zero pledge delegates, Steyer qualified thanks to his national poll numbers.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate:

Tuesday’s Democratic debate, the tenth of the 2020 election cycle, is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Eastern and end at 10:15 p.m. at the Gaillard Center in Charleston. It’s co-hosted by CBS News, BET, Twitter, and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, and will air live on CBS3 and BET in Philadelphia .

The debate will stream live for free on the CBS News website, the CBS News app and on Twitter @CBSNews.

Seven candidates qualified for the debate. They are (in alphabetical order):

The only Democratic presidential candidate who won’t be on the debate stage is Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Unfortunately for Gabbard, her absence isn’t much of a surprise. The last debate she qualified for was the November face-off in Atlanta, the fourth debate of the cycle. Since then, she has failed to garner much support nationally and has yet to earn a single pledged delegate after three contests.

Despite that, Gabbard has shown no sign she’s ready to suspend her campaign. She spent the weekend campaigning in Utah, and during an appearance on Fox Business last week, she blamed a “corporate media blackout” for her lackluster national support.

“There have been some challenges but we’re still here, we’re still fighting and still bringing the message of the change that I seek to bring to voters here in South Carolina right now,” Gabbard said.

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Tonight’s debate will feature five moderators:

Candidates need 1,991 delegates to secure the Democratic presidential nomination. After three contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, here’s where things stand:

The DNC has approved as many as 12 debates, though there may be fewer, depending on how the primary process plays out. Tuesday’s debate will be the fourth of 2020, with a fifth scheduled for Sunday, March 15, in Arizona on CNN and Univision. The 12th and final debate of the election cycle will be held in April, but the date and location have not yet been announced.

The party hasn’t released its criteria for qualifying for the next debate, but it’s likely to be similar to previous ones, where candidates had to either reach one of two polling requirements or earn at least one pledged delegate in previous primary contests.

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