Democratic debate: Latest news and analysis after Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden battle in first one-on-one showdown
Pandemic frames a conversation-style debate in unprecedented election cycle
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After a stunning series of wins, Joe Biden has seized the mantle of frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race. Though Bernie Sanders' path to the nomination has narrowed, he persists on his campaign to upset the status quo.
As the coronavirus pandemic grips the US, the candidates met n their first one-on-one Democratic debate of this election cycle.
Without an audience, the former vice-president faced off against the Vermont senator after Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar all dropped out following Super Tuesday.
Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard remains in the race but did not qualify for the latest debate.
The debate gave the senator his biggest and best chance yet to frame his signature progressive policies to a national audience against the backdrop of the coronavirus crisis and its revelation of the kinds of national failures that his platform aims to address on a systemic and fundamental level.
Mr Biden, on the other hand, used the moment to highlight his front-runner status. As the clear delegate leader in the field, and without a stage of contenders competing for the spotlight, the former vice president was more focused and in-control than in previous debates.
"This is bigger than any one of us", he said.
He underlined their ideological differences, saying voters are "looking for results" and "not a revolution" — what would be a drawn-out political fight — while Mr Sanders stressed the "dysfunction" in government that has led to the inequities Americans are faced with in the midst of the crisis.
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Both men supported picking a woman vice president, and both men rallied around defeating the incumbent in November by committing to campaign for the nominee.
Though Mr Biden's past — potential cuts to Social Security, wavering on abortion rights, supporting the Wall Street bailout, super PAC support — came back to haunt him, the debate fell away from substantive policy decisions and came back to the coronavirus threat, and whether the candidates are prepared to meet it.
The debate was originally scheduled to take place in Phoenix, Arizona but has been moved to Washington DC, days before another round of crucial primaries scheduled for 17 March: Florida (with 219 delegates), Illinois (155), Ohio (136) and Arizona (67).
There is one more Democratic debate in the primary calendar which will take place in April, as long as both Mr Biden and Mr Sanders are still in the race. A date and location for that debate have not yet been finalised.
Follow live coverage as it happened
Both candidates say they'll support the other if they are to become the nominee.
They both view Trump as an existential threat and are prepared to rally their respective voters against him.
A video question asks Sanders about the threats to women's physical and financial health after the courts have been overrun by conservative judges determined to dismantle abortion right.
Half of the people in his cabinet would be women. Sanders believes in abortions rights and wants to tackle domestic violence as well as pay equity and universal childcare.
Biden says he would appoint the "first black woman to the courts." His administration would "look like the country" and pick a woman to be his vice president.
Biden, on his support for the Hyde amendment, which prevents federal funds to abortion care: "Everyone voted for the Hyde amendment for one time or another because it was locked into other bills."
He clarifies it is a woman's right to choose. Sanders says he's glad he changed his views.
Sanders: "In all likelihood" he would elect a woman vice president, but he wants to ensure progressive consistency throughout his administration.
On immigration, both men argue against the current, militarised status quo under the Trump administration.
Biden said that he would not support local law enforcement agencies turning undocumented immigrants over to ICE — which was policy under Obama, earning him the nickname "deporter in chief."
He says "xenophobia is a disease."
On climate change, Sanders says the current energy system must be transition away "as quickly as possible" from fossil fuel while the US gives massive tax breaks to industry.
Biden says he'd rejoin the Paris climate accord and provide $20bn to the Amazon.
Sanders says of course he would join the climate accord, but taking on the fossil fuel industry is a much larger battle, bringing back Biden's comment about treating coronavirus as a "war."
Biden says no more subsidies for the industry, no offshore drilling, and no drilling on federally protected land.
Sanders argues to pool resources that are otherwise spent on the military to fight a "common enemy."
Sanders told off Biden for laughing about Sanders' support for the Paris climate accord while arguing it doesn't go far enough.
"What we need to do is bring the world together" and take on the fossil fuel industry.
Biden squeezes in a "no new fracking" but has yet to rule it out entirely.
Sanders, on his opposition to authoritarianism: "I believe, unlike the president of the US, democracy."
He says the US "must move toward democracy and human rights."
The panel asks him to clarify whether he would condemn achievements in dictatorships, after Sanders had praised Cuban literacy programs, which Obama has also praised.
Biden said Obama was "trying to change Cuban policies" by getting them "opened up."
The ongoing attacks over the Iraq war have echoed through every election cycle since 2004.
Both Obama and Trump used Hillary Clinton's vote to support it against her in their respective elections. Sanders is now doing the same with Biden.
The candidates' closing messages gives the candidates a chance to offer a heartfelt message about the coronavirus threat while also pointing to the crisis as a reason to vote for them.
Sanders said it's also "a time to rethink America as a country where we care about each other" and "not a country of greed and corruption."
Biden said it's time to "start listening to the science again" and renewed the fight against Donald Trump. He made it personal and emotional, painting the picture of a woman in a nursing home using sign language to communicate.
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