Attacks on Sen. Bernie Sanders came from all sides of the stage Tuesday night during the last Democratic debate before Saturday’s South Carolina primary and next week’s Super Tuesday contests.
Sanders entered the debate as the clear front-runner after a resounding victory in Nevada, a win in New Hampshire and a top two finish in Iowa. But on Tuesday his Democratic rivals criticized his Medicare for All proposal, his record on regulating firearms and his recent comments about Cuba.
In response to questions about comments he made on “60 Minutes” that Fidel Castro was able to make strides in health care and education, Sanders said he has always “opposed authoritarianism all over the world.”
Democrats and Republicans quickly criticized his comments, saying he was glorifying the dictatorial Cuban regime.
“Of course you have a dictatorship in Cuba,” Sanders added Tuesday night. “What I said is what Barack Obama said in terms of Cuba — that Cuba made progress on education.”
Boos were heard from the Charleston audience as he made that statement, a common response on many occasions when Sanders spoke.
“Occasionally it might be a good idea to be honest about American foreign policy and that includes the fact that America has overthrown governments all over the world. In Chile, in Guatemala, in Iran and when dictatorships, whether it’s the Chinese or the Cubans do something good you acknowledge that, but you don’t have to trade love letters with them,” he said.
Throughout the debate former Vice President Joe Biden repeatedly attacked Sanders about his voting record on firearms, saying the Vermont senator voted against the Brady bill, which mandated federal background checks on purchases and a five-day waiting period.
Biden also criticized Sanders for voting in favor of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act which gave firearm manufacturers liability protection.
“Well, you know, Joe has voted for terrible trade agreements,” Sanders said to more boos from the crowd.
“No, no, no. Joe voted for the war in Iraq, my point was I have cast thousands of votes including bad votes,” he continued. “That was a bad vote.”
The melee began right from the beginning of the debate, with Sanders arguing the economy is doing well for billionaire former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and his friends but not for the working class.
Bloomberg retorted that Russian President Vladimir Putin is helping Sanders win the nomination because the Vermont senator will lose to President Donald Trump in a general election.
“Vladimir Putin thinks that Donald Trump should be president of the United States, and that’s why Russia is helping you get elected so you lose to him,” Bloomberg said, citing a recent report from the Washington Post.
Sanders was quick to respond with a warning to Putin and Russia.
“Let me tell Mr. Putin, who interfered in the 2016 election, tried to bring Americans against Americans. Hey Mr. Putin, if I’m president of the United States, trust me, you’re not going to interfere in any more American elections,” he said.
Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg moved the conversation away from Russian interference and back to an attack against Sanders that he has honed over the past month: that the Vermont senator’s politics are divisive.
“I’ll tell you what the Russians want, they don’t have a political party. They want chaos, and chaos is what is coming our way,” Buttigieg said. “If you think the last four years has been chaotic, divisive, toxic, exhausting, Imagine spending the better part of 2020 with Bernie Sanders versus Donald Trump. Think about what that will be like for this country.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who in previous debates had maintained a somewhat more friendly banter with the senator from Vermont, chose to go after his Medicare for All plan and the spending required to see all his social programs go into effect.
Klobuchar said it would cost roughly about $60 trillion over a decade, VTDigger came up with a similar number when it analyzed his proposals.
Sanders retorted that his plan for universal health care would save more money than private health insurance.
“What the health and human services have said in analyzing health care costs, what a recent Yale study has said, is that your program would cost some $50 trillion over a 10-year period,” Sanders said pointing at the moderate candidates.
“What every study out there, conservative or progressive, says is Medicare for All will save money,” he said.
The Vermont senator received the most attention throughout the two-hour debate as the other six candidates on the stage all tried to slow his building momentum, questioning his electability and potential impact on down-ticket congressional candidates
“I’m hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight. I wonder why,” Sanders said halfway through the night.
However, Bloomberg, who received pointed critiques from Warren in the last debate, continued to receive attacks.
Warren again went on the offensive, accusing Bloomberg of telling a woman who worked for her to get an abortion if she would like to continue working for him.
Bloomberg categorically denied the allegation.
Polling before the debate had Biden and Sanders neck and neck in South Carolina, the last contest before Super Tuesday when 14 states hold primaries.
The Vermont senator is currently in first place in California and Texas, which have a combined 644 delegates up for grabs.
The Sanders campaign announced Tuesday that when Super Tuesday results come in, he will be in Vermont to cast his own vote and to hold an evening rally.
