Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard came out on top in the first online poll of the night following Tuesday’s Democratic Debate.
The 38-year-old Congresswoman decided last minute to attend the debate despite earlier threats to boycott it and spoke on her veteran experience serving in the Middle East and called for Donald Trump’s impeachment, winning 29,242 votes (39.44%), according to a Drudge poll.
In her time on the stage alongside 11 other Democratic candidates, she gave an impassioned speech on U.S. presence in Syria – calling it a ‘regime change war’ – and sparred with Mayor Pete Buttigieg over removing American troops there.
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard won Tuesday’s Democratic Debate according to a Drudge poll with a 39.44 percent vote
Sen. Elizabeth Warren was branded a winner in the debate by Vox and CNN. She rose to frontrunner status in the race where she fielded relentless attacks by her more moderate rivals
However, other political pundits claimed Bernie Sanders came out on top, securing the endorsements of Congress ‘Squad’ members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes and Ilhan Omar.
The first online poll of the night saw Gabbard rise to the top followed by Andrew Yang, Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren
Sanders, who is usually criticized for his aggressive and angry front, appeared to be in good spirits on the stage, just weeks after suffering a heart attack. When Sen. Cory Booker joked’ Senator Sanders is in favor of medical marijuana’, he quipped, ‘I’m not on it tonight.’
Sen. Elizabeth Warren was also crowned a winner of the debate and deemed a frontrunner in the race after she fielded relentless attacks from her rivals on her healthcare plans and taxes throughout the three-hour joust.
And the attacks from her more moderate counterparts aren’t unwarranted, as the Massachusetts senator continues to rise in the polls.
‘Warren was the focal point, with the other candidates all but taking their focus completely off Biden. It wasn’t completely smooth sailing for Warren (which we’ll get to), but it was an affirmation that she is viewed as perhaps the frontrunner now,’ the Washington Post’s Aaron Blake said.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar was praised as a winner for her surprisingly aggressive front in this debate where she repeatedly attacked Warren, calling her out for failing to answer if she’ll raise taxes on the middle class for her Medicare-for-all healthcare proposal.
The moderate candidate called her out saying: ‘I’m sorry Elizabeth. You are making Republican talking points in this room. Bernie is being honest. We owe it to the American people to tell them where we will send the invoice.’
Winners: Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar were deemed winners of the night for their aggressive fronts in the Tuesday debate in Ohio
Losers: Former vice president Joe Biden and businessman Tom Steyer faded into the background of Tuesday’s event
Tuesday’s Presidential Debate: (From left to right) Tulsi Gabbard, Tom Steyer, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Pette Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, and Julián Castro took to the debate stage Tuesday night in Westerville, Ohio hosted at Otterbein University
Some criticized this very point – her healthcare plan – as Warren’s loss of the night. Despite being asked four times if her Medicare-for-all proposal would increase taxes on the middle class, she failed to give a direct answer, leading Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke to push back against her.
Buttigieg was a surprise winner of the night, according to CNN’s Chris Cillizza, for hitting Warren hard on her Medicare-for-all plan.
He also sparred with Rep. Gabbard’s call to end U.S. wars in the Middle East, marking a tense moment between the two military veterans where he clapped back and said: ‘Respectfully, congresswoman, I think that is dead wrong. The slaughter going on in Syria is not a consequence of American presence, it a consequence of a withdrawal and a betrayal by this president of American allies and American values’.
This Google trends poll shows that search interest on Tuesday peaked for Tulsi Gabbard followed by Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden
This CNN graph shows how long each candidate spoke throughout the three-hour Tuesday debate. Elizabeth Warren had the most speaking time followed by Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar
The South Bend, Indiana Mayor also dug into former Congressman Beto O’Rourke over his proposed mandatory buy-backs of assault-style rifles.
He said: ‘I don’t need lessons from you in courage – political or personal.’
All the while former vice president Joe Biden was named a loser by many. Despite leading in the polls, Biden performance didn’t stand out compared to the aggressive tactics of his peers and and skirted around the issue of his son’s business deals and the Ukraine scandal.
He boasted that the others candidates didn’t measure up to his accomplishments in office, which led Warren to snub him saying she was ‘deeply grateful to president Obama’ for passing a measure she helped work on during his presidency.
Tom Steyer was also slammed as a loser of the night. It was his first time on the debate stage but he failed to shine against his outspoken rivals, but did challenge Trump saying: ‘I would love to take him on as a real businessman’.