Democratic debate dominated by Warren and Sanders

Elizabeth+Warren+at+an+October+town+hall+in+Norfolk%2C+Virginia.+Photo+taken+on+Oct.+14.

Noah Siraj

Elizabeth Warren at an October town hall in Norfolk, Virginia. Photo taken on Oct. 14.

CNN hosted the final Presidential Democratic Debate at 8 p.m. on Jan. 14. The stage was set with six top candidates: Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Tom Steyer. Noticeably absent were Andrew Yang, who failed to meet the polling requirements, and Michael Bloomberg, who failed to meet the donor requirement.

Andrew Yang, while not on the debate stage, was one of the most talked-about candidates online. Twitter analytics show he was the fourth most tweeted about democratic candidate and sixth most tweeted about politician of the night.

While the candidates had similar airtime, the conversation was still commanded by Sanders and Warren. Headlines from CBS News online wrote, “Sanders-Warren tension dominates final debate before Iowa caucuses.”

Earlier in the week, also reported CBS, accusations had come forward that Sanders had told Warren in a private 2018 meeting that he did not believe a woman could win the presidency. Many viewers were upset with how CNN moderators treated this issue.

“They made it into a little more of a petty he-said-she-said which doesn’t reflect greatly on the [democratic] party, as they’re two of the top three candidates,” said senior Josh Minter.

The CNN moderators also framed their questions in a manner that implied the accusations regarding Sanders were confirmed to be true.

After the debate, Warren declined a handshake from Sanders.

“I think you called me a liar on national TV,” said Warren.