Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren enjoy a huge boost following the Democratic devates and leave Bernie Sanders in FOURTH, while front runner Joe Biden drops 10 points after disastrous showing
- Joe Biden continues to lead a crowded Democratic field at 22 percent – but his support dropped by 10 points after a bruising first debate
- Kamala Harris shamed him on busing and left him exclaiming: ‘My time’s up’
- She surged afterward, jumping into second place at 17 percent in CNN’s poll
- Her rise pushed Bernie Sanders into fourth place – he’s running just behind Elizabeth Warren at 14 percent to her 13 percent in the 2020 race
Joe Biden is officially a loser of the first debate.
His support dropped by 10 points in the first survey his showdown with Kamala Harris, who’s now in second place in the 2020 race.
The results of the first CNN poll, published Monday afternoon, reflected a scramble in the Democratic field after the Miami face-off.
I WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK: Joe Biden ‘s praise for segregationists followed him to the Democratic presidential debate on Thursday evening and exploded into a racial controversy that could sink his candidacy after Kamala Harris lectured him on busing
Harris shot up in the national survey to 17 percent, shoving Bernie Sanders into fourth place with 14 percent of the party’s support.
Elizabeth Warren held also gained support, leaving her in third at 15 percent.
Biden remains the front the front-runner at 22 percent but Harris’ assault on him blunted his ascent. He’d had 32 percent in the CNN survey at the end of May.
No other candidates were able to reach 5 percent, despite improved performances by Julian Castro, the former Housing and Urban Development Secretary, and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
Castro’s support dropped to one percent from an earlier CNN poll in which he’d had two percent of the vote. Klobuchar’s backing remained virtually unchanged at two percent.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg shed support, coming in at 4 percent. He’d been a point higher, at 5 percent, a month prior.
Cory Booker’s numbers remained unchanged in the poll, which is enough to get him into the next round. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke meanwhile dropped to his level.
He’d had 5 percent before competition that pitted him against Castro, a fellow Texan who picked a debate- stage fight with him in a bid to drag his numbers down, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The dispute appeared to benefit de Blasio, who had less than one percent before, and popped up after the debate on CNN’s radar.
Several other candidates who qualified for the first debate were in danger of being cut from the next one after they dropped below the one percent threshhold: Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, former Maryland Congressman John Delaney, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan, California Congressman Eric Swalwell and author Marianne Williamson.
Harris came out of the debate with the most-improved status, jumping nine points to 17 percent from 8 percent in the May survey.
Democratic and independent voters also said they wanted to know more about her, with 30 percent saying they’d be interested in learning more about her campaign.
Warren was right behind her at 24 percent, with Buttigieg nipping at their heels at 23 percent, followed by Booker, Castro and Sanders. Biden was after all five, suggesting primary voters did not feel they needed to get his side of the story on his record.
At the Thursday night debate, Harris directed an attack at him for his position in the 1970s on busing. He did not support forced integration through federal interference. He sided on the issue with segregationists.
She turned to the 76-year-old who was a Delaware senator at the time and forced him to listen to her personal story. He looked down at the podium as she lectured him on the difference that busing made to her.
‘You know, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me,’ she said. ‘So I will tell you that on this subject, it cannot be an intellectual debate among Democrats. We have to take it seriously. We have to act swiftly.’
He claimed she was mischaracterizing his views and touted a long record of supporting civil rights.
‘I have supported the ERA from the very beginning. I’m the guy that extended the Voting Rights Act for 25 years. We got to the place where we got 98 out of 98 votes in the United States Senate doing it. I’ve also argued very strongly that we in fact deal with the notion of denying people access to the ballot box. I agree that everybody wants that – in fact, they should – anyway, my time’s up. I’m sorry,’ he said.