The most progressive candidates on stage at the Democratic presidential primary debate in Detroit on Tuesday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., dominated the event — despite a bizarre decision by the host network, CNN, to frame the discussion as a running critique of their far-reaching policy proposals to reform the federal government. As Yousef Munayyer, a Palestinian-American policy analyst observed, “CNN set up this debate as a multi-front ambush on Warren and Sanders.” Indeed, the entire structure of the debate, starting with the first questions about Medicare for All, introduced by Sanders and supported by Warren, was based on the premise, recently popular with pundits, that Democrats are in danger of moving too far to the left. That framing led to the bizarre opening exchange in which a fringe candidate, former Rep. John Delaney, D-Md., was invited by moderator Jake Tapper to attack the two highest-polling candidates, Sanders and Warren, for planning to replace the private health insurance industry with a government-run plan. In a forceful rebuttal to Delaney, Warren pointed out that by accusing Sanders of wanting to take people’s private health insurance away, the former Democratic congressman was channeling the Republicans.

“Let’s be clear about this: We are the Democrats,” Warren said in a moment that was tweeted out by her campaign. “We are not about trying to take away health care from anyone. That’s what the Republicans are trying to do, and we should stop using Republican talking points in order to talk with each other about how to best provide that health care.” Sanders and Warren were then pressed repeatedly by Tapper to say if moving to Medicare for All would require some middle-class families to pay more in taxes. Sanders noted that middle-class families would pay less overall — because any increase in taxes would be less than their current costs for insurance and deductibles. And he slammed Tapper for the premise of the question — which is, as he pointed out twice, a Republican talking point. “And by the way,” he added, “the health care industry will be advertising tonight on this program … with that talking point.”

Tapper: “Will you raise taxes for the middle class?”



Bernie: I’m talking about no deductibles and no copays



Jake, your question is a Republican talking point.



And by the way the healthcare industry will be advertising on this program with that talking point. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/GK49ZMwE9m — DSA ? (@DemSocialists) July 31, 2019

“Why doesn’t CNN ask basic questions about drug companies gouging the public, or the health care industry using its largesse to manipulate the media and Congress to maintain the status quo,” my colleague Lee Fang tweeted. “Why only this narrow question about taxes that never gets asked about other policy demands?” When Tapper then put forward the argument against Medicare for All offered by Joe Biden — that union members who have fought for good health care plans should be allowed to keep them — Sanders shut down criticism by Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, another centrist, of what his plan would provide. “But you don’t know that, Bernie,” Ryan interjected. Sanders replied: “I do know it, I wrote the damn bill.”

Ryan said Sanders’ promises around "Medicare for All" were wrong and maybe he wasn’t clear on the numbers.



Sanders: "I wrote the damn bill." https://t.co/DI4MCGMNwV #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/VkOqO7IhzV — CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 31, 2019

Before the debate was even over, the Sanders campaign had made those words into a sticker and was using it to solicit donations from supporters. Delaney then criticized Sanders and Warren for not understanding the health care industry he has been part of and profited from. “I’m the only one on the stage who actually has experience in the health care business, and with all due respect, I don’t think my colleagues understand the business,” Delaney said. “It’s not a business!” Sanders replied. “Maybe you did that and made money off health care,” Sanders added moments later, “but our job is to run a nonprofit health care system.”

"Maybe you did that and made money off healthcare, but our job is to run a nonprofit healthcare system" @BernieSanders #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/UyCXYXtvxm — People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) July 31, 2019

As the debate wore on, the framing, which invited the low-polling centrist Democrats to attack the front-runners at center stage, irritated more and more observers.

Hello, random candidate, do you think the front runners and clearly superior candidates onstage tonight are dangerously left wing? THANK YOU. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU — Rebecca Traister (@rtraister) July 31, 2019

Again and again, the moderators urged centrist candidates to voice their concerns with the proposals of Warren and Sanders. One of those questions led Warren to respond to Delaney with the signature reply of the night.

“I don’t understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can’t do and shouldn’t fight for,” Warren said to cheers. Later, Warren even rubbed her hands with glee when Delaney was informed that his net worth of $65 million would make him subject to her proposed wealth tax.

Having constructed the entire debate to generate disagreements between the progressive candidates, whose ideas are finding support from Democratic primary voters, and centrist candidates who are struggling to get past 1 percent in the polls, CNN concluded the evening with the headline it had worked so hard to create: “Breaking News: Liberal and Moderate Democrats Clash in Detroit.”

“Liberal and moderate democrats clash in Detroit”. This was a joke. @CNN used the #DemocraticDebate #DemDebate for its own benefit and produce drama to feed their narrative of Dems clashing. It was a sham and the @DNC needs to be smarter. pic.twitter.com/WwzIk027md — Carlos Sainz Caccia ???? (@sainzcaccia) July 31, 2019

Update: Wednesday, July 31, 3:21 p.m. EDT The morning after the debate, the Republican party helpfully proved that Warren and Sanders were right to say that it was a Republican talking point to focus only on the need to increase taxes to pay for Medicare for All, while ignoring the fact that total costs would go down for working families that no longer have to pay outrageous premiums and deductibles. On Wednesday morning, the Republican National Committee tweeted out video of a post-debate interview in which Chris Matthews of MSNBC repeatedly pressed Warren to say if taxes would go up, and completely ignored her point that “out of pocket costs for middle class families,” are, under the plan she and Sanders endorse, “actually going to go down.”

MSNBC’s Matthews grills Warren for dodging on middle class tax hikes under government health care takeoverhttps://t.co/FVG7Kkm543 pic.twitter.com/3EplKdLBze — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 31, 2019

Warren’s supporters shared the same clip, but to praise what they called her articulate refusal to accept the premise of the question — which would, no doubt, have been instantly used in Republican attack ads.

Chris Matthews rudely keeps pushing a loaded question he knows is misleading about M4A and taxes going up and Elizabeth Warren is not having it, sets him straight that overall costs going down is what matters. pic.twitter.com/9bCCyxf582 — Adam Best (@adamcbest) July 31, 2019