Live coverage of the Democratic presidential debate

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders are set to face off In what will undoubtedly be the final debate of the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign season.  The debate was originally scheduled to be held in Phoenix, Arizona, with an emphasis on questions from the audience, but the COVID-19 pandemic prompted it to be moved to Washington D.C., with no audience. The debate is starting at 8 PM ET and is slated to last for two hours. It will air on CNN, and can also be watched via livestream here. The moderators will be Ilia Calderón, Dana Bash, and Jake Tapper. Sunday, Mar 15, 2020 · 11:59:59 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are on stage, separated by the CDC recommended 6’ after doing an … elbow, forearm … thing. We’ll be starting up in just a minute.

Monday, Mar 16, 2020 · 12:01:39 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

The announcers make it clear that a good deal of the debate will focus on the coronavirus crisis — which is absolutely appropriate.

Monday, Mar 16, 2020 · 12:04:04 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Tapper starts then off with a “what would you do” question. Which Biden answered at length earlier this week. 

Biden starts off referring to his earlier comments, points to his web site. Again, breaks it down to testing, need for more hospital beds, and dealing with economic fallout. 

Monday, Mar 16, 2020 · 12:06:11 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Sanders confronted with the worst case scenario — hundreds of thousands or millions of lives on the line. Calls on for an end to the disinformation that’s confusing people, says that people shouldn’t need to worry about cost of testing or treatment. Calls for an increase in respirators and personnel. 

Monday, Mar 16, 2020 · 12:10:07 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Biden asked about the “red tape” that Trump said was in the way of providing test kits. Starts to answer, then pivots to agreeing with Bernie and re-emphasizing the need for more hospital beds. 

Sanders gets a follow up on making beds available, with Tapper offering up the comparison to Italy. Sanders: “Let’s be honest. This coronavirus exposes the incredible weakness of our healthcare system.” Everything that Bernie is saying on the downfalls of our for-profit healthcare system, and he’s getting in a good dig at those who see this as a chance to profit, but it isn’t explaining how this generates the requisite hospital beds.

Monday, Mar 16, 2020 · 12:15:43 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Biden asked about the need for a national quarantine, says he would “do what they did before” by getting all the experts together … which also isn’t an answer. Biden pivots to saying that a single-payer system isn’t working for Italy, then back to talking about the need for a single national voice. 

Sanders gets a chance to respond, says that the crisis shows the weakness of our system. “When we spend twice as much as any other country, one might expect that we’re prepared,” says Bernie. Says that we don’t have a healthcare system — we have “thousands of insurance plans.”

Biden says “that has nothing to do with when you’re in a national crisis. A national crisis says it’s all free, you don’t have to pay for anything...”

Sanders cuts him off to say that the legislation just passed has “enormous loopholes” that leave many people with a bill. 

Biden says that his plan covers those loopholes. Sanders points out that a plan that only covers someone sick because of coronavirus doesn’t address the other needs of their family, makes another pitch for universal coverage. Says healthcare industry is funding Biden’s campaign.

Monday, Mar 16, 2020 · 12:16:48 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Biden says he’s laid out a plan, and in this national crisis “doesn’t want to get in a back and forth.”  …. “This is a war. And in a war you take care of your people.” Says that has nothing to do with medicare for all.

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