Joe Biden faced a barrage of attacks from fellow 2020 hopefuls, but this time he was better prepared

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Joe Biden fended off multiple attacks at the second Democratic presidential debate in Detroit on Wednesday night, as the party’s contenders to take on Donald Trump in 2020 jockeyed to position themselves as a clear alternative to the current frontrunner.

Following Tuesday’s debate, which pitted a slew of moderates against the progressive leaders Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Wednesday night’s debate saw Biden almost single-handedly commanding the centrist lane. But the unruly and often contentious evening produced no clear winner, as some onstage cautioned against losing sight of the party’s real target – Trump.

Here are the key takeaways:

The People v Joe Biden

Democratic candidates piled on their criticisms of Biden, who continues to lead the polls, on issues ranging from healthcare and immigration to criminal justice and gender equality.

It was a clear bid to knock the former vice-president from his frontrunner status and expose his potential weaknesses – as the California senator Kamala Harris so successfully did in last month’s debate in Miami, Florida. But this time, Biden was better prepared for the onslaught and repeatedly turned the tables on his opponents.

Early on, Biden took on the role of aggressor as he criticized Harris’s healthcare plan as too costly while questioning its 10-year implementation period. “Anytime somebody tells you you’re going to get something good in 10 years, you should wonder why it takes 10 years,” Biden said.

Harris shot back that Biden’s own healthcare proposal would leave behind roughly 10 million Americans, but she found herself mostly on the defensive, as other candidates took swings at her plan – dubbed “Medicare for All Lite” by some critics.

Biden … 30330?

Biden, who is known for being gaffe-prone, somehow managed to bungle his closing statement.

Biden initially warned that four more years of Donald Trump would “go down as an aberration”, repeating a line he has often used on the campaign trail. He then said “eight more years” of Trump would “change America in a fundamental way”.

There will obviously not be another eight years of Trump, given that presidents are limited to two terms. Biden’s intent was clearly to say that a second Trump term would mean eight years in total, thus reshaping the country in an indelible way. He just didn’t quite land the delivery.

But his verbal stumbles did not end there.

In closing, he asked viewers to “Go to Joe 3-0-3-3-0 and help me in this fight”. Other candidates had just promoted their websites in a bid for donations; but Biden, rather than direct people to his campaign site, accidentally read the number individuals can text to get involved in his campaign. And in doing so, he failed to explain where exactly people should go to support his candidacy.

For a brief moment, it looked as though Pete Buttigieg’s campaign had bought the Joe30330.com URL. But later the domain redirected to a previously unheard of and self-described “Gen Z’er” known as Josh.

Cory Booker finds his voice

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cory Booker won applause for criticism of Joe Biden. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Cory Booker has struggled to gain traction since launching his campaign in February, despite ranking among the Democratic party’s rising stars. But on Wednesday, the New Jersey senator made several moments his own.

In one exchange, Booker took a shot at Biden for selectively invoking Obama only when it was “convenient”.

Although Biden countered by accusing Booker of engaging in controversial “stop and frisk” policies as the former mayor of Newark, Booker was ready and waiting to punch back.

“You’re dipping into the Kool-Aid and you don’t even know the flavor,” Booker said, drawing both laughter and applause from the crowd.

The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) The moment Booker dropped Kool-Aid pic.twitter.com/4cuzvKeDL1

Booker, one of two black 2020 presidential candidates, also drew praise from the audience for referencing voter suppression.

When moderators asked how Democrats planned to win back the state of Michigan, which Trump carried in 2016, Booker said the party lost because “everybody from Republicans to Russians were targeting the suppression of African American voters”.

“We need to have a campaign that is ready for what’s coming,” he added, “an all-out assault, especially on the most valuable voter group – in fact, the highest-performing voter group in our coalition, which is black women.”

Kirsten Gillibrand’s make-or-break moment

Despite her prominence in the Senate, Kirsten Gillibrand’s campaign has hardly taken off. The New York senator barely qualified for the first two Democratic debates and was banking on a big night in Detroit.

The results were mixed.

On the one hand, Gillibrand was able to tout her work addressing women’s economic issues, reproductive rights and helping secure permanent health benefits for 9/11 first responders.

She also landed one of the night’s standout zingers when asked about her first order if business should she replace Trump. “The first thing I am going to do when I am president is Clorox the Oval Office,” Gillibrand said to laughter and applause.

Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) Step one: Clorox the Oval Office.

Step two: Restore US climate leadership and act to fight climate change.#DemDebate pic.twitter.com/UR4wq39NJC

But other moments did not go as expected. Gillibrand’s campaign had telegraphed plans to attack Biden for writing a 1981 op-ed against expanding a child tax credit. In her framing at the debate, Gillibrand suggested Biden had said women working outside the home would contribute to “the deterioration of the family”.

Biden rejected Gillibrand’s characterization, stating he did not oppose an expansion of the child tax credit in its entirety – but rather he opposed expanding it to high-income families.

Biden pointed out Gillibrand had long praised his work on gender quality.

“I don’t know what happened except you’re now running for president,” Biden told Gillibrand.