Democratic Primary Debate: on Principles & Values
Amy Klobuchar:
What unites us is bigger than what divides us
While we have had major debates about policy, we have to remember that what unites us is so much bigger than what divides us.
And we have to remember that our job is to not just change policy, but to change the tone in our politics, to look up from our phones, to look at each other, to start talking to each other.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Amy Klobuchar:
Trump's actions make Russia great again, not America
I'm waiting to find out how making that call to the head of Ukraine and trying to get him involved in interfering in our election makes America great again. I'd like to hear how leaving the Kurds for slaughter, where Russia then steps in to protect
them, makes America great again. I would like to hear from him about how coddling up to Vladimir Putin makes America great again. It doesn't make America great again, it makes Russia great again. That is what this President has done.
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Oct 15, 2019
Andrew Yang:
Not left or right, but forward
Donald Trump had a set of solutions in 2016.We're going to build a wall. We're going to turn the clock back. We're going to bring the old jobs back. America, we have to do the opposite of all of these things. We have to turn the clock forward.
We have to accelerate our economy and society as quickly as possible. We have to evolve in the way we think about ourselves and our work and our value. It is not left, it is not right, it is forward.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Andrew Yang:
Impeachment won't solve problems that got Trump elected
I support impeachment, but we shouldn't have any illusions that impeaching Donald Trump will 1.) be successful or 2.) erase the problems that got him elected in 2016.
The fact is, Donald Trump, when we're talking about him, we are losing. We need to present a new vision and that even includes talking about impeaching Donald Trump.
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Oct 15, 2019
Bernie Sanders:
I hold major rallies despite age & health
Q: You're 78 years old and you just had a heart attack. How do you reassure Democratic voters that you're up to the stress of the presidency?
SANDERS: Let me invite you all to a major rally we're having in Queens, New York. We're going to be mounting a vigorous campaign all over this country. That is how I think I can reassure the American people.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Bernie Sanders:
End divisiveness; unite people with progressive agenda
We have got to end the hatred that Trump is fostering on our people, the divisiveness, trying to divide us up by the color of our skin or where we were born or our sexual orientation or our religion, and there is no job that I would undertake with
more passion than bringing our people together around an agenda that works for every man, woman, and child in this country rather than the corporate elite and the 1%. A progressive agenda that stands for all is the way that we transform th
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Bernie Sanders:
Trump a corrupt president, worthy of impeachment
Trump is the most corrupt president in the history of this country. It's not just that he obstructed justice. I think that the House will find him worthy of impeachment because of the emoluments clause. This is a president who is enriching himself while
using the Oval Office. The idea that we have a President who is prepared to hold back national security money to one of our allies in order to get dirt on a presidential candidate is beyond comprehension.
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Oct 15, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
1600 miles with Republican led to finding common ground
I remember being in San Antonio. I found that my flight had been snowed in Washington, D.C. Happened to be in the elevator with a Republican member of Congress, Will Hurd, and on a whim said, "Do you want to just rent a car and drive from
San Antonio to Washington?" And he called my bluff. We drove 1600 miles across the country. By the end of that trip, not only had we formed a friendship, but we had formed trust. We worked with each other on each other's bills.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Impeachment: Can't fail those who sacrificed for our country
I think about everyone who's ever served this country in uniform. Those who have willingly sacrificed their lives to defend this country and our constitution. We are the inheritors of their service and their sacrifice and we have a responsibility to be
fearless in the face of this President's criminality and lawlessness. If you do not hold them to account, not only have we failed this moment, we have failed everyone who has sacrificed and laid their lives down on the line and we cannot d
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Oct 15, 2019
Cory Booker:
Rugged individualism is fine, but we must work together
I believe in the values of rugged individualism and self-reliance but think about our history.Rugged individualism didn't get us to the moon. It didn't beat the Nazis. It didn't map the human genome. It didn't beat Jim Crow. This election is not a
referendum on one guy in one office, it's a referendum on who we are and who we must be to each other. Remind America that patriotism is love of country and you cannot love your country unless you love your fellow country men and women.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Cory Booker:
Impeachment: We need a moral moment, not a political one
First of all, we must be fair. We are talking about ongoing proceedings to remove a sitting president for office. This has got to be about patriotism and not partisanship. I understand the outrage that we all feel, but we have to conduct this process in
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Oct 15, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
Would be oldest president; ready to fight for the people
Q [to BIDEN]: If you're elected you will turn 80 during your first term. Former President Jimmy Carter said he could not have. undertaken the duties of the presidency at 80. Why are you so sure you can?V.P Joe BIDEN: Because I've watched it, I know
what the job is. One of the reasons I'm running is because of my age and my experience. With it, comes wisdom.
Q [to WARREN]: You would be the oldest president ever inaugurated on a first term. You'll be 71. 40% of Democratic primary vot
think a candidate under the age of 70 is more likely to defeat President Trump. What do you say to them?
WARREN: I say I will out-work, out-organize and outlast anyone, and that includes Donald Trump, Mike Pence, or whoever the Republicans get stuck
with. Democrats will win when we fight for the things that touch people's lives, things like childcare and healthcare and housing costs, Democrats will win when we give people a reason to get in the fight.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
Ready to use executive authority for the people
Following the financial crash of 2008, I had an idea for a consumer agency that would keep giant banks from cheating people. Sure enough, the big banks fought us, the Republicans fought us, some of the Democrats fought us,
but we got that agency passed into law. It has now forced big banks to return more than 12 billion dollars directly to people they cheated. I served in the Obama administration. I know what we can do by executive authority and I will use i
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
Impeachment is about more than Trump
Sometimes there are issues that are bigger than politics. I think that's the case with this impeachment inquiry. No one is above the law and that includes the President of the United States. Impeachment is the way that we establish that this man will
not be permitted to break the law over and over without consequences. This is about Donald Trump but understand it's about the next president and the next president and the next president and the future of this country.
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Oct 15, 2019
Joe Biden:
With age comes wisdom; and for me, experience on Day One
Q [to SANDERS]: You're 78 years old and you just had a heart attack. How do you reassure Democratic voters that you're up to the stress of the presidency?Sen. Bernie SANDERS: Let me invite you all to a major rally we're having in Queens, New York.
We're going to be mounting a vigorous campaign all over this country. That is how I think I can reassure the American people.
Q [to BIDEN]: If you're elected you will turn 80 during your first term. Former President Jimmy Carter said he
undertaken the duties of the presidency at 80. Why are you so sure you can?
BIDEN: Because I've watched it, I know what the job is. One of the reasons I'm running is because of my age and my experience. With it, comes wisdom.
We need someone to take office this time around who on day one can stand on the world stage, command the respect of world leaders from Putin to our allies, and know exactly what has to be done to get this country back on track.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Joe Biden:
I'm the only Dem candidate who's gotten big things done
I'm the only one on this stage that's gotten anything really big done. From the Violence Against Women Act, to making sure that we passed the Affordable Care Act, to be in a position where we in fact took almost a 90 billion dollar act that kept us
from going into a depression, putting us in a position where I was able to end the issue of gun sales, in terms of assault weapons. We all have good ideas. Who's going to be able to get it done?
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Joe Biden:
Better positioned than any country to own 21st century
One of the things that's the reason why I'm running, we have to restore the soul of this country. We have to unite the country because folks, it's time we stop walking around with our heads down. We are better positioned than any
country in the world to own the 21st century. So for God's sake, get up, get up, and remember, this is the United States of America. There's nothing, nothing we're unable to do when we decide we're going to do it. Nothing at all, period.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Joe Biden:
Congress had no choice but to move on impeachment
I said from the beginning that if Trump continued to stonewall what Congress is entitled to know about his background, what he did, all the accusations in the Mueller report, they would have no choice but to begin an impeachment proceeding, which
gives them more power to seek more information. The fact is that this President has gone so far as to say he will not cooperate in any way at all. They have no choice but to move.
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Oct 15, 2019
Kamala Harris:
We have much more in common than what separates us
The vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. And I guess that's why I'm running. I do believe that to beat Donald Trump, but also to heal our country.
We need a leader who has the ability to unify our country and see that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Kamala Harris:
Trump committed crimes in plain sight
He has committed crimes in plain sight. Our framers imagined this moment, a moment where we would have a corrupt president. And our framers then rightly designed our system of democracy to say there will be checks and balances.
This is one of those moments. Congress must ask but the reality of it is that I don't really think this impeachment process is going to take very long because as a former prosecutor, I know a confession when I see it.
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Oct 15, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
America known as country that keeps its word
Soldiers in the field are reporting that, for the first time, they feel ashamed of what their country has done. We saw the horrifying sight of a woman with the lifeless body of her child in her arms, asking what the hell happened to American leadership?
When I was deployed, I knew one of the things keeping me safe was the fact that the flag on my shoulder represented a country known to keep its word. You take that away, you are taking away what makes America America.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Purpose of presidency is unification, not self-glorification
I think about the friendships I formed in the military. People who were radically different from me and we learned to trust each other with our lives. I want every American to have that experience without having to go to war [which] is why
I believe national service is so important. Only the president can build a sense of belonging and purpose for the entire country. The purpose of the presidency is not the glorification of the president. It is the unification of the America
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Impeachment is not just about Trump, but about presidency
It's a mistake on the part of Republicans who enabled a president whose actions are as offensive to their own supposed values as they are to the values that we all share. This is not just about holding the President accountable.
It's also about the presidency itself because a president, 10 years or 100 years from now, will look back at this moment and draw the conclusion, either that no one is above the law or that a president can get away with anything.
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Oct 15, 2019
Tom Steyer:
Impeachment reflects the will of the American people
I started the Need to Impeach movement because I knew there was something desperately wrong at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. That we did have the most corrupt president in the country, and that only the voice and the will of the American people would drag
Washington to see it as a matter of right and wrong, not of political expediency. Impeaching and removing this President is something the American people are demanding. They're the voice that counts and that's who I went to, the American p
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Oct 15, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard:
Would be youngest president, but has experience
Q [to WARREN]: You would be the oldest president ever inaugurated on a first term. You'll be 71. 40% of Democratic primary voters say they think a candidate under the age of 70 is more likely to defeat President Trump. What do you say to them?Sen.
Elizabeth WARREN: I say I will out-work, out-organize and outlast anyone, and that includes Donald Trump, Mike Pence, or whoever the Republicans get stuck with.
Q: You're 38 years old and you would be the youngest president if elected.
matter?
GABBARD: I am grateful to have been trained very well by the army and do my best to stay in shape, but the real question you should be asking is who is fit to serve as our commander-in-chief? Bringing the experience that I have both serving in
Congress now for nearly seven years and serving for over 16 years in the Army National Guard, I understand the importance of our national security. I am prepared to do this job to fulfill this responsibility as commander-in-chief on day on
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard:
Treat people with respect, even when we disagree strongly
We must stand united as Americans remembering that we are all connected. This is the kind of leadership that I seek to bring as president. When I look out at our country, I don't see deplorables, I see fellow Americans. People who I treat with respect
even when we disagree and when we disagree strongly. I will work to restore a White House that represents light and compassion and respect for every American regardless of race, religion, orientation, gender or political affiliation.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard:
Supports impeachment inquiry providing info to Americans
The serious issues that have been raised around this phone call that he had with the president of Ukraine and many other things that transpired around that are what caused
me to support the inquiry in the House and I think that it should continue to play its course out together. All the information, provide that to the American people, recognizing that that is the only way forward.
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Oct 15, 2019
Page last updated: Feb 09, 2020