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Debates took place among candidates in the campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination for the
president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
in the 2020 presidential election. There were a total of 29 major Democratic candidates. Of these, 23 candidates participated in at least one debate. Only
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
and
Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
participated in all the debates; Pete Buttigieg,
Amy Klobuchar Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member o ...
, and
Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...
participated in all but the final debate.


Overview


Schedule

In December 2018, the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
(DNC) announced the schedule for 12 official DNC-sanctioned debates, set to begin in June 2019, with six debates in 2019 and the remaining six during the first four months of 2020. Candidates were allowed to participate in forums featuring multiple other candidates as long as only one candidate appeared on stage at a time. Any presidential candidates who participated in unsanctioned debates with each other would have lost their invitations to the next DNC-sanctioned debate. No unsanctioned debates took place during the 2019—2020 debate season. The DNC also announced that it would not partner with
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
as a media sponsor for any debates. Fox News last held a Democratic debate in 2003. All media sponsors selected to host a debate were as a new rule required to appoint at least one female moderator for each debate, to ensure there would not be a gender-skewed treatment of the candidates and debate topics.


Participation

The following is a table of participating candidates in each debate:


Debates in 2019


First debates (June 26–27, 2019)


Qualification

To qualify for the first debates, entrants had to, at a minimum, achieve one of the two criteria listed. If this had resulted in more than 20 qualified candidates, the two criteria would have been evaluated in combination per an outlined set of tiebreaking rules, but since 20 candidates qualified, no tiebreaker was necessary. The deadline for candidates to meet either of the below criteria was June 12.


Summary

The Democratic Party's first presidential debates ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election were held in two groups on June 26 and 27, 2019, in
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. Starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, they aired on NBC and were broadcast on radio by Westwood One. Savannah Guthrie was the lead moderator of the debates, joined by Lester Holt,
Chuck Todd Charles David Todd (born April 8, 1972) is an American television journalist who was the 12th moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. During his time at NBC News between 2007 and 2025, Todd also hosted ''Meet the Press Now'', its daily edition ...
, Rachel Maddow, and José Díaz-Balart. The DNC drew lots among the 20 qualified candidates for the first debate to determine whether they should debate on the first night (June 26) or second night (June 27) at the
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
headquarters (
30 Rockefeller Plaza 30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. Completed in 1933 ...
) in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
on June 14. The qualified candidates or their representatives were present and involved at the drawing event, which was not televised. The debates took place at the Arsht Center in
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. The first night of the debate was marked by a noted dust-up between O'Rourke and Castro on the subject of immigration, which Castro was widely perceived to have won, while Warren met expectations as a top-tier candidate. In addition, Booker and Klobuchar each had their moment in the spotlight, Klobuchar in particular being noted for her one-liners, one of which was about acknowledging that, for the first time in U.S. history, there were at least three women on stage at a presidential debate. Gabbard took on Ryan over continuing the US presence in Afghanistan. Booker, Castro, and O'Rourke all spoke Spanish at different times during the debate, which received mixed reception and was met with jokes from second-night competitors Williamson and Yang on Twitter. On night two, Harris and Biden clashed over Biden's past comments about working with segregationist senators and his stance on desegregation busing. The second night was also notable for the performance of Williamson, who received significant attention for comments she made during the debate perceived as strange, including a reference to the
Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand () is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023. The prime minister (informally abbreviated to P ...
Jacinda Ardern Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...
. Before these debates, no major party had ever seen more than one female candidate on a presidential debate stage.


Second debates (July 30–31, 2019)


Qualification

The criteria for qualifying for the second debates were the same as for the first debates. To qualify for the second debates, debate entrants had to, at minimum, comply with one of the two below listed criteria. Mike Gravel was not invited to the debates since he only met the donor threshold, which was given a lesser weight than the polling threshold. The deadline for candidates to meet either of the below criteria was July 16.


Summary

The Democratic Party's second presidential debates ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election were held on July 30 and 31, 2019, in
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
,
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
. Starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, they aired on
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
and were broadcast on radio by Westwood One. Jake Tapper was the lead moderator of the debates, joined by Dana Bash and Don Lemon. The drawing of lots among the 20 invited candidates to determine when they will debate was televised in
prime time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
on July 18. There were three tiers of candidates that were split between two nights, as opposed to the two tiers used in the first debates. In total, 21 candidates qualified for the second debate. The 14 candidates who met both criteria (Biden, Sanders, Warren, Harris, Buttigieg, O'Rourke, Booker, Klobuchar, Castro, Yang, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Inslee, and Williamson) and the six candidates who met the polling criterion only (Ryan, Hickenlooper, Delaney, de Blasio, Bennet, and Bullock) were invited to participate in the debate. Gravel, the one candidate to qualify by the donor criterion only, was not invited because of the 20-candidate limit and the polling criterion's precedence over the donor criterion as mandated by the DNC. The set of participants for the second debate was identical to the first debates with one exception: Bullock replaced Swalwell, who suspended his campaign between the first and second debates. The debate on July 30 featured Bullock, Buttigieg, Delaney, Hickenlooper, Klobuchar, O'Rourke, Ryan, Sanders, Warren and Williamson, while the debate on July 31 featured Bennet, Biden, Booker, Castro, de Blasio, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Harris, Inslee and Yang. Both debates took place at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan. The overarching theme on the first night was a clash between moderates and progressives on a variety of issues, ranging from Medicare for All to electability. CNN received criticism for allegedly inciting conflicts between candidates and making questions from Republican talking points, as well as enforcing the time limits too strictly. The second night saw significant discussion centered on candidates' differing health care plans. Additionally, Gabbard went on the offensive against Harris.


Participation

Each of the first two debates took place during two consecutive nights, with a maximum of 10 candidates per night. The DNC, at a public event before each debate, drew lots among the qualified candidates to determine whether they shall debate on the first or second night. This drawing procedure was designed to avoid the appearance of a "kiddie table" debate where the lowest polling candidates were grouped together with no leading candidates, which happened during the 2016 Republican Party presidential debates.


Third debate (September 12, 2019)


Qualification

The third debate took place at the Health and Physical Education Arena on the campus of
Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...
in
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
,
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. For participation in the third debate, candidates were required to meet both polling and fundraising criteria by August 28 (in comparison to the first and second debates, where only one criterion was necessary). Qualifying polls had to be released between June 28 and August 28. Five candidates (Gravel, Hickenlooper, Inslee, Moulton, and Gillibrand) suspended their campaigns between the second and third debates. On August 23, the Gabbard campaign criticized the DNC's purported lack of transparency in the process of selecting organizations/institutions to sponsor polls and how better-ranked polls were excluded. The campaign also highlighted the stark reduction in poll frequency, especially in early primary states, after the second debate compared to after the first debate and how they believed that that was "particularly harmful" to candidates with lower name recognition. The campaigns of Marianne Williamson, Tom Steyer, and Michael Bennet also requested that the DNC increase the number of certified polls by expanding the list of certified poll sponsoring organizations.


Summary

The Democratic Party's third presidential debate ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election took place on September 12, 2019, in
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
,
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. It aired on
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
and
Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...
.
George Stephanopoulos George Robert Stephanopoulos (born February 10, 1961) is an American television host, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a news presenter, coanchor with Robin Roberts (newscaster), Robin Roberts and M ...
was the lead moderator of the debate, joined by
David Muir David Jason Muir ( ; born November 8, 1973) is an American journalist and anchor for '' ABC World News Tonight'' and co-anchor of the ABC News magazine '' 20/20'', part of the news department of the ABC broadcast-television network, based in ...
, Linsey Davis, and Jorge Ramos. The candidates who qualified for the third debate were Biden, Booker, Buttigieg, Castro, Harris, Klobuchar, O'Rourke, Sanders, Warren, and Yang.


Fourth debate (October 15, 2019)


Qualification

A memo released by the DNC on August 5 indicated that the qualification period for the fourth debate in October started on June 28, which was the same day that qualification began for the third debate (in effect allowing all candidates who qualified for the third debate to automatically qualify for the fourth debate). This gave candidates who did not qualify for the September debate more time to qualify for the October debate. Biden, Booker, Buttigieg, Castro, Harris, Klobuchar, O'Rourke, Sanders, Warren, and Yang qualified before August 22, while Steyer and Gabbard qualified on September 8 and September 24 respectively. The qualification deadline for the fourth debate was October 1, 2019. One candidate (de Blasio) suspended his campaign between the third and fourth debates.


Summary

The Democratic Party's fourth presidential debate was held on Tuesday October 15, 2019, in Westerville,
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
, from 8 to 11 p.m. EDT. On September 27, the DNC announced that the debate would include all 12 candidates on one night, although some had assumed it would take place on two nights since it had more than 10 participants. From left to right, the candidates were: Gabbard (who missed the previous debate), Steyer (in his first debate), Booker, Harris, Sanders, Biden and Warren (who shared center stage), Buttigieg, Yang, O'Rourke, Klobuchar, and Castro. Podium order for the debate was determined based on an average of the 10 most recently released qualifying polls.
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
anchors Erin Burnett and Anderson Cooper and ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' national editor Marc Lacey served as the debate moderators. The debate aired exclusively on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español, and was streamed on CNN.com's homepage and NYTimes.com's homepage. The debate also streamed live on the following Facebook Pages: CNN, CNN International, CNN Politics, CNN Replay, AC360 and Erin Burnett OutFront. In addition, the debate was available across mobile devices via CNN's and New York Times' apps for iOS and Android, via CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Chromecast and Android TV, SiriusXM Channels 116, 454 and 795, the Westwood One Radio Network and National Public Radio. The Ohio debate featured 12 candidates, setting a record for the highest number of candidates in one presidential debate.


Fifth debate (November 20, 2019)


Qualification

A memo released by the DNC on September 23 indicated that the qualification period for the November debate started on September 13, and ended on November 13. To qualify in terms of polling, candidates needed to reach three percent or more in four polls approved by the DNC. Alternatively, reaching five percent or more in two DNC-approved polls conducted in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina was also accepted as meeting the polling threshold. To qualify in terms of donors, candidates needed to receive donations from 165,000 unique donors with 600 unique donors in 20 different states, territories or the District of Columbia. Three candidates (Messam, O'Rourke, and Ryan) suspended their campaigns between the fourth and fifth debates.


Summary

The Democratic Party's fifth presidential debate was held on November 20, 2019, from 9 to 11:20 p.m. ET, at Tyler Perry Studios in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. It was moderated by Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell, Kristen Welker and Ashley Parker. The candidates who qualified were Biden, Booker, Buttigieg, Gabbard, Harris, Klobuchar, Sanders, Steyer, Warren and Yang.


Sixth debate (December 19, 2019)


Qualification

A memo released by the DNC on October 25 indicated that the qualification period for the December debate started on October 16, and ended on December 12. To qualify in terms of polling, candidates had to reach four percent or more in four polls approved by the DNC. Alternatively, reaching six percent or more in two DNC-approved polls conducted in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina was also accepted as meeting the polling threshold. To qualify in terms of donors, candidates had to receive donations from 200,000 unique donors with 800 unique donors in 20 different states, territories or the District of Columbia.


Summary

The Democratic Party's sixth presidential debate was held on December 19, 2019, at 8 p.m. ET at
Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, and was hosted by ''
PBS NewsHour ''PBS News Hour'', previously stylized as ''PBS NewsHour'', is the news division of PBS and an American daily evening news broadcasting#television, television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS Network affiliate#Member stations, member stat ...
'' and ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
''. It was initially set to be held at the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
. However, the DNC announced on November 6 that UCLA was no longer hosting the debate due to a labor dispute. Three candidates (Sestak, Bullock and Harris) suspended their campaigns between the fifth and sixth Democratic debates; Harris would have qualified for the sixth debate had her campaign continued. Gabbard, a few days before failing to qualify for the debate, announced on December 9 that she would not participate regardless of whether she qualifies. The debate aired on Politico.com, PBS, and CNN. The candidates who qualified were Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Sanders, Steyer, Warren and Yang. Highlights included: an exchange between Buttigieg, Warren, and Sanders about campaign financing (including mention of a Buttigieg fundraiser in a
Napa Valley Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Napa County, California. The area was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on February 27, 1981, after a 1978 petition submitted by the Napa Valley Vin ...
wine cave), differences between Klobuchar and Buttigieg on the issue of experience, and a discussion about health care between Sanders and Biden. The candidates were in agreement about the impeachment of Donald Trump, which had been approved by the House of Representatives the day before. Sanders and Klobuchar had a disagreement about the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, with the former opposed to and the latter in favor of ratification. Yang, the only candidate of color, expressed lament that Kamala Harris and Cory Booker were absent, and declared that his universal-basic-income proposal would diversify the field. Sanders, Biden, and Warren parried a question about age. Steyer stated that climate change would be his top priority as president, and the issue was discussed at length by all the candidates. The Chinese government censored a live feed of the debate after moderator
Judy Woodruff Judy Carline Woodruff (born November 20, 1946) is an American broadcast journalist who has worked in local, network, cable, and public television news since 1970. She was the anchor and managing editor of the ''PBS NewsHour'' through the end of 20 ...
asked Pete Buttigieg if the U.S. should boycott the
2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...
in Beijing over China's alleged human rights abuses of Uyghur citizens.


Debates in 2020


Seventh debate (January 14, 2020)


Qualification

A memo released by the DNC on December 20 indicated that the qualification period for the January debate started on November 14, 2019, and ended on January 10, 2020. A candidate needed to meet both polling and donor criteria. Candidates had to reach 5% or more in four polls approved by the DNC, or 7% or more in two DNC-approved polls conducted in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina. In addition, candidates must have received donations from 225,000 unique donors, including 1,000 unique donors in 20 different states, territories or the District of Columbia. The candidates who qualified were Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Sanders, Steyer and Warren. This debate stage featured all of the candidates from the sixth debate except for Yang. Steyer qualified with 2 early-state polls on the penultimate day to qualify, while the other five all qualified much earlier. Yang and Booker met the fundraising criterion but failed to meet the polling criteria. Bloomberg met polling criteria but not the fundraising criterion, as he was not then asking for donations. Three candidates (Castro, Williamson and Booker) suspended their campaigns between the sixth and seventh debates, with Booker dropping out two days after the qualifying candidates were announced.


Summary

The Democratic Party's seventh presidential debate was held from 8 to 10:15 p.m. CT on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, at
Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...
in
Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...
,
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
. It was hosted by
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
and ''
The Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...
''. Several sources noted an exchange between Warren and Sanders. They discussed Warren's accusation that Sanders told her privately that women could not successfully win the presidency. Sanders flatly denied this accusation and pointed to his deference to Warren before running for president in 2016. Warren insisted that Sanders had said women could not win and pointed out that the women on stage had not lost any election, while the men on stage had lost 10 elections combined. At the end of the debate when candidates were shaking hands with one another, Warren was seen declining a handshake from Bernie Sanders; the two candidates then appeared to argue with each other. It was later revealed that Warren commented to Sanders, "I think you called me a liar on national TV." Sanders replied, "Let's not do it right now. You want to have that discussion, we'll have that discussion. You called me a liar."


Eighth debate (February 7, 2020)


Qualification

The qualifications for the eighth debate were similar to those for the January debate (5% nationally/early states, or 7% in early states, this time excluding Iowa) except for the added provision that all candidates who gained at least one pledged delegate in the Iowa caucus (which is expected to apply only to candidates supported by at least 15% of the final votes statewide or in a district) would also automatically qualify for the debate. Candidates had until February 6 to qualify. The candidates who qualified included Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Sanders, Steyer, Warren, and Yang. One candidate (Delaney) suspended his campaign between the seventh and eighth debates.


Summary

The Democratic Party's eighth presidential debate was held from 8–10:30 p.m. ET on Friday, February 7, 2020, at
Saint Anselm College Saint Anselm College is a private Benedictine liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire, United States. Founded in 1889, it is named after Saint Anselm of Canterbury. As of 2024, the college's enrollment was 2,094 students. History ...
in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
,
New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
. It was hosted by ABC's New Hampshire affiliate
WMUR-TV WMUR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Manchester, New Hampshire, United States, serving as the American Broadcasting Company, ABC affiliate to most of New Hampshire. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on ...
and
Apple News Apple News is a news aggregator app developed by Apple Inc., for its iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS operating systems. The iOS version was launched with the release of iOS 9. It is the successor to the Newsstand app included in previous versi ...
. Emerging as frontrunners after the Iowa caucuses, Buttigieg and Sanders came under attack by other candidates. Klobuchar questioned Buttigieg on his lack of political experience, whereas Biden pressed Sanders to clarify how he would fund Medicare For All and brought up his past stances on gun control, citing Sanders's votes against the
Brady Bill The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Public Law (United States), Pub.L. 103–159, 107 United States Statutes at Large, Stat. 1536, enacted November 30, 1993), often referred to as the Brady Act, the Brady Bill or the Brady Handgun Bill, ...
in the 1990s. Moderator Linsey Davis also inquired Buttigieg on the rise in marijuana-related incarcerations of African Americans in
South Bend South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...
during his tenure as mayor, which he attributed to "systemic racism". Candidates also voiced praise for Senator
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
of Utah, who was the only Republican senator to vote against Donald Trump's acquittal in his Senate impeachment trial two days earlier, and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who was fired from the
National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...
by Trump after serving as a key witness on the trial. On the topic of campaign finance, Elizabeth Warren stated that political action committees had assisted all of the non-billionaire candidates except for Amy Klobuchar and herself. Another prominent issue discussed in the debate was abortion, with several candidates pledging to only support
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
nominees who will uphold abortion rights and pushed for the codification of '' Roe v. Wade''.


Ninth debate (February 19, 2020)


Qualification

The DNC announced on January 31 that it was eliminating the donor threshold as a debate qualification requirement for any debate following the New Hampshire debate on February 7, which prompted criticism from several candidates as it was perceived to accommodate Bloomberg, who is not accepting individual donations. The polling thresholds were drastically increased since the last debate, with candidates now having to reach 10% in DNC-approved national polls or 12% in early state polls conducted in Nevada and South Carolina. Candidates who won at least one pledged delegate in the
Iowa caucuses The Iowa caucuses are quadrennial electoral events for the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections, where registered voters cast ballots at polling places on election day, Iowa caucuses are ...
or New Hampshire primary were automatically qualified for the debate. Candidates had until February 18 to qualify. The candidates who qualified included Biden, Bloomberg, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Sanders, and Warren. Three candidates (Yang, Bennet, and Patrick) suspended their campaigns between the eighth and ninth debates.


Summary

The Democratic Party's ninth presidential debate was held from 6–8 p.m. PST on Wednesday, February 19, 2020, at
Paris Las Vegas Paris Las Vegas is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. Property features include a casino, 3,672 hotel rooms, a 1,400-seat performance theater, and various restaurants. ...
in
Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
. It was hosted by
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
and
MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
, in partnership with '' The Nevada Independent''. Bloomberg, who made his debate stage debut after qualifying only a day prior, was widely regarded by multiple news outlets as having performed poorly. Bloomberg's political and personal record came under heavy scrutiny by other candidates, including his previous support of stop-and-frisk policies during his tenure as
mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...
. The controversial program, which disproportionately targeted racial minorities, was referred to by Biden as "abhorrent" and "a violation of every right people have". Warren reprimanded Bloomberg for his recently resurfaced derogatory comments on women and called for him to rescind the
non-disclosure agreement A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement (CA), confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), proprietary information agreement (PIA), or secrecy agreement (SA), is a legal contract or part of a contract between at le ...
s he signed with several of his company's former female employees over sexual harassment and workplace discrimination, accusing Bloomberg of attempting to "muzzle" them. Sanders's electability was also brought up in the debate, when moderator Lester Holt mentioned the findings of a recent ''NBC News/Wall Street Journal'' poll which showed that two thirds of American voters would not be comfortable with a socialist presidential candidate; Sanders retorted by touting his wide lead over other candidates in the same poll. Bloomberg criticized Sanders's advocacy of
democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic ideology, economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and wor ...
by comparing it to communism, which Sanders dismissed as a "cheap shot", arguing that his economic policies were closer to Nordic social democracy. Buttigieg, meanwhile, branded both Sanders and Bloomberg as polarizing figures who would further divide the party if one of them were to receive the nomination. Healthcare was another issue discussed by the candidates, in light of the Culinary Workers Union's recent criticism that Sanders's Medicare for All policy would replace their existing union healthcare in favor of a government plan. In response, Sanders defended his plan by saying that it would expand, rather than take away, healthcare benefits for union members. Warren attacked Buttigieg and Klobuchar on their more moderate healthcare plans, likening their lack of details to a " PowerPoint" presentation and "
Post-it Note A Post-it note (or sticky note) is a small piece of paper with a re-adherable strip of glue on its back, made for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. A low-adhesion, tack pressure-sensitive adhesive allows the notes to ...
" respectively. On the other hand, Klobuchar argued that Sanders's Medicare for All proposal would be too radical to garner enough support in the Senate, whereas Buttigieg expressed disapproval at the idea of letting the government decide what healthcare plan is best for unions, calling it "condescension and arrogance". The televised debate drew a combined 19.7 million viewers on NBC and MSNBC, making it the most-watched Democratic primary debate of all time.


Tenth debate (February 25, 2020)


Qualification

The qualification criteria remained largely unchanged from the last debate, with candidates having to either garner at least 10% support in DNC-approved national polls or 12% in early state polls conducted in the remaining state of South Carolina in order to meet the polling threshold. Candidates could also qualify via the delegate threshold by winning at least one pledged delegate in
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
,
New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
or
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
. The qualification deadline for the debate was February 24. All candidates still in the race at the time (Biden, Bloomberg, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Sanders, Steyer and Warren), except for Gabbard, qualified for the debate.


Summary

The Democratic Party's tenth presidential debate was held from 8–10 p.m. ET on Tuesday, February 25, 2020, at the Gaillard Center in Charleston,
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
. It was hosted by
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute in partnership with
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, and aired on CBS and BET. Following his landslide victory in Nevada the prior week, Sanders was targeted by several other candidates who attempted to dampen his momentum going into the upcoming
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
and
Super Tuesday Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...
primaries. Biden hit Sanders on the issue of gun control by drawing a contrast between Sanders's voting record and his own, noting that he was a consistent supporter of more stringent gun regulations throughout his Senate career. Biden highlighted his role in passing legislation to expand universal background checks and extend waiting periods for purchasing guns, while pointing out that Sanders previously had a relatively moderate stance on gun control, voting against the
Brady Bill The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Public Law (United States), Pub.L. 103–159, 107 United States Statutes at Large, Stat. 1536, enacted November 30, 1993), often referred to as the Brady Act, the Brady Bill or the Brady Handgun Bill, ...
and in favor of the PLCAA during his tenure as a congressman. However, his claim that "150 million people have been killed since 2007" by guns was fact-checked by
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
as being incorrect, with a Biden campaign spokesperson suggesting that he might have intended to say 150,000. Sanders expressed regret at his decisions, admitting that he has "cast thousands of votes, including bad votes", and noted that he had a D-minus rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund. Foreign policy was extensively discussed by the candidates, which took up about 25 minutes of the debate. Sanders and Bloomberg clashed over past comments they have made regarding foreign authoritarian leaders; Bloomberg emphasized recent allegations that Russian President
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
was trying to prop up the Sanders campaign. When Sanders's praise for
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
's literacy programs in Cuba on ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
'' was brought up by Bloomberg, Sanders responded by calling out Bloomberg's refusal to call China's
paramount leader Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important Supreme leader, political figure in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberatio ...
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...
a dictator in an interview, and pointed out that
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
had also previously praised Cuba's healthcare and education. This provoked a reaction from Biden, who said that while Obama did acknowledge Cuba's progress in increasing life expectancy during a 2016 town hall, he did not "in any way suggest that there was anything positive about the Cuban government" and proceeded to condemn the dictatorial regime. The debate moderators received staunch criticism for focusing too much on narrowly-focused policy issues, failure to keep control of the candidates' speaking times, allowing candidates to interrupt other candidates during their allotted speaking times, applying the debate rules regarding giving candidates time to respond to personal attacks in a non-equitable way, and for permitting the audience to boo and jeer certain candidates without consequence. Both Biden and Sanders criticized the moderators on stage for failing to enforce the debate rules. The crowd's negative reception of Sanders led to the proliferation of rumors on social media that the debate audience had been "stacked against" him, pointing to the high entry costs which ranged from $1,750 to $3,200 as evidence. The
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
has denied this claim, explaining that the debate tickets were allocated among political organizations (DNC, CBCI and SCDP) and media entities (CBS and Twitter) hosting the debate as well as participating candidates' campaigns, with each campaign being given an equal quota. Tickets were guaranteed to sponsors, and the ticket costs referred to the cost of sponsorship.


Eleventh debate (March 15, 2020)

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
,
Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...
, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus hosted the eleventh debate in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, from 8 P.M. to 10 P.M. Eastern Time. Five candidates (Steyer, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Bloomberg, and Warren) suspended their campaigns between the tenth and eleventh debates. On March 6, the DNC announced that qualification would be based on "earning at least 20 percent of delegates awarded by March 15", as calculated by the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
or
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
. The Democratic National Committee announced on March 10 that the debate would no longer allow a live audience, nor would press (beyond CNN and Univision) be allowed to attend, due to fears about the spread of the coronavirus. On March 12, the Democratic National Committee announced that the March 15 debate, originally scheduled to take place at the Arizona Federal Theatre in
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
, would instead be held at CNN's studio in Washington, D.C. It also announced that Jorge Ramos was no longer a moderator because he had contact with a person with coronavirus.


Qualification


Summary

The debate was primarily focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, which was discussed for 17 minutes and 45 seconds, with Biden claiming the Trump administration rejected test kits from the WHO. Both candidates also compared the pandemic to that of the Ebola epidemic.


Cancelled twelfth debate

In an interview with ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
'' regarding the March 15 debate, a DNC official confirmed a twelfth debate was still being planned. Two candidates (Gabbard and Sanders) suspended their campaigns between the eleventh and twelfth debates, leaving Biden as the only remaining major candidate. Prior to suspending his campaign, Sanders stated that he planned to participate in the debate. Biden dismissed the idea, however:
"My focus is just dealing with this crisis right now. I haven't thought about any more debates. I think we've had enough debates. I think we should get on with this."
It is likely that the debate would have been hosted in an East Coast location, such as New York City. On April 8, 2020, Sanders dropped out of the Democratic primary, leaving Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee. In early June 2020, Biden passed the threshold of 1,991 delegates to gain the nomination at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.


Incidents and controversies


Climate change debate

On April 22, 2019, Jay Inslee proposed that the DNC dedicate one of its presidential debates to
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
, giving candidates a chance to elaborate in full detail on how they intend to implement climate action and achieve the goals presented by the Green New Deal (a progressive climate resolution proposed by Democratic members of the House of Representatives). Recent polls of both Democratic voters and the electorate in general had identified this topic to be of the highest importance (for example, a
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
poll found 80% of Democrats wanted presidential candidates to make climate change a top priority, and a Morning Consult poll of registered voters nationwide found that 63% said it's either important or a top priority for Congress to pass a bill to address climate change). Despite support from seven other candidates (
Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
,
Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...
,
Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York since 2009 ...
, Julian Castro,
Michael Bennet Michael Farrand Bennet (born November 28, 1964) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Colorado, a seat he has held sinc ...
, John Delaney and Seth Moulton), several progressive and environmental groups (
Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...
, CREDO Action, Sunrise Movement, Friends of the Earth Action,
Public Citizen Public Citizen is an American non-profit, Progressivism in the United States, progressive consumer rights advocacy group, and think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1971 by the American activist and lawyer Ralph Nader. Lobbying e ...
, 350 Action,
MoveOn MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressivism in the United States, progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown ...
, Youth Climate Strike), at least two dozen Democratic lawmakers from the House and Senate, and over 52,000 signatories of a petition, the DNC turned down the idea of limiting some of their debates to only one debate topic. On June 29, 2019, however, the DNC referred to a committee a proposal "calling for an official debate on climate change". On August 22, the resolutions committee voted to reject the proposal.


Steve Bullock's qualification for first debate

After Steve Bullock received 1% in an open-ended ABC News/''The Washington Post'' poll, controversy arose as the DNC's official qualification rules, published on February 14 and updated on May 9, did not state whether open-ended polls would count towards qualification. The DNC later stated during rule guidance given on June 10 and 11, that "polls based on open-ended questions will not be considered". This additional rule was initially orally communicated between DNC chairman Tom Perez and the Bullock campaign in March 2019, and was only publicly confirmed via a statement to a
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
reporter on June 6, but was never confirmed in writing by any primary DNC sources ahead of the qualification deadline. On June 12, the Bullock campaign wrote a certification letter to the DNC claiming that Bullock qualified for participation in the first debate through the polling criteria (as they believed the open-ended poll from ABC News/''The Washington Post'' should be counted as Bullock's third qualifying poll, according to the official published rules). If Bullock had been deemed a qualifying candidate by the DNC, then 21 total candidates would have qualified by the polling criteria. However, the DNC explicitly limited the debate stage to 20 candidates, so that would have triggered tiebreak rules. Bullock and Eric Swalwell were tied for the 20th spot with each candidate having 1% polling averages and three qualifying polls with exactly 1% support. In that scenario, the DNC would have had to accept inviting 21 candidates, or invent a supplementing final tiebreak rule (for example, drawing lots for the last spot, or deciding the tie by their number of unique donors). However, Bullock's certification letter was rejected and he failed to qualify for the first debate, though he qualified for the second debate.


Debate protests


Second debate protest

On the second night of the second debate, protesters motivated by the death of Eric Garner and the continued employment of Staten Island police officer Daniel Pantaleo shouted during
Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...
's opening remarks, and then entirely halted
Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2013. A member of the Democ ...
's, disrupting the debate for nearly 30 seconds.


Third debate protest

During the closing statements for the third debate, in which candidates were asked to recall moments of resilience after a professional setback, protesters interrupted
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
for approximately two minutes. According to Jess Davidson, they shouted "we are DACA recipients; our lives are at risk!" The Trump campaign accused the protesters of having insensitive timing.


Ninth debate protest

Immigrant rights protestors interrupted Biden's closing statement.


Tenth debate protest

Some people in the audience of the tenth debate booed candidates.


Tulsi Gabbard disputes with DNC


Pollster selection and poll frequency

On August 23, Gabbard's campaign protested the failure of the DNC to release "their criteria for selecting the 16 polling organizations they deem 'certified'" for qualifying candidates for the third debate. In the campaign's statement, they listed 26 polls in which Gabbard reached the 2% threshold and alleged that certain "DNC-certified" polls were rated lower than non-certified polls by organizations such as the American Research Group and ''
FiveThirtyEight ''FiveThirtyEight'', also rendered as ''538'', was an American website that focused on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. The website, which took its name from the number of electors in the U ...
'', and questioned why only four qualifying polls were released following the second debate, while fourteen were released following the first debate; and why only two polls were released in the first two weeks after the second debate while six polls were released in the first two weeks after the first debate. The campaign further argued that the lack of polling was "particularly harmful to candidates with lower name-recognition." They called on the DNC to revise the set of polls it considers for qualifying and also asked them "to hold true to their promise and make adjustments to the process now to ensure transparency and fairness." Several other campaigns, including those of
Michael Bennet Michael Farrand Bennet (born November 28, 1964) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Colorado, a seat he has held sinc ...
, Tom Steyer, and Marianne Williamson also criticized the unclear criteria, and overall lack, of qualifying polls.


Qualifying polls for October debate

On September 8, a ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''/
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
poll was released. An initial report from ABC claimed that Gabbard had not received the 2% necessary for the poll to count as a qualifying poll, but the Gabbard campaign announced that she had indeed received the 2% necessary for the poll to count as a qualifying poll, citing ''The Washington Post'' figures directly. To further complicate matters, ''
FiveThirtyEight ''FiveThirtyEight'', also rendered as ''538'', was an American website that focused on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. The website, which took its name from the number of electors in the U ...
'' claimed that it had received confirmation from the DNC that the poll did not count for Gabbard but the Gabbard campaign countered by stating that no official DNC ruling had been delivered. The confusion stemmed from the fact that the poll data was presented with two sets of results: one of all adults, and one of registered voters. Gabbard reached 1% among all adults and 2% among registered voters. An approved poll conducted on July 1 was conducted similarly, but it is unclear which category was used for the qualification for the debates, as no candidate had 2% in one category and 1% in the other. Gabbard later reached 2% in two other qualifying polls, allowing her to qualify for the fourth debate.


Threatened boycotts

On October 10, Gabbard threatened to boycott the fourth debate, saying that she believed the DNC and the media were rigging the election. On October 14, Gabbard announced that she would be attending the debate. On December 9, Gabbard announced that she would boycott the sixth debate, and that instead she would be prioritizing campaigning in New Hampshire and South Carolina. She failed to qualify for the sixth debate by the deadline, December 12.


Eleventh debate qualification

On March 3, as
Super Tuesday Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...
results were announced, DNC communications director Xochitl Hinojosa tweeted that the qualification threshold would likely increase, giving the reason that almost 2,000 delegates would have been allocated by the time of the debate. This tweet was sent after Gabbard apparently received a delegate and would qualify for the March debate, per the previous three debates' threshold of one delegate. She later gained another delegate. On March 6, the DNC confirmed that the single qualification for entry to the eleventh debate would be for a candidate to have earned at least 20 percent of awarded delegates by March 15. The threshold was impossible for her to meet to qualify for the eleventh debate.


Andrew Yang disputes


Microphone complaints in first debate

Yang, along with Marianne Williamson and Eric Swalwell, complained of microphone problems not allowing them to speak unless called upon when other candidates seemed to be able to freely interject at all times. NBC responded by stating that none of the candidates' microphones were turned off or muted.


Yang qualification for third debate

After Yang had received what he considered to be his fourth qualifying poll, the DNC revealed that qualifying polls conducted by different organizations would not be counted separately if they were sponsored by the same DNC-approved sponsor. The ruling was controversially disclosed by the DNC on July 30, less than one day after Yang had obtained 2% in four polls, rather than on July 19 when the second of these polls had been completed. In spite of this, Yang qualified for the third debate.


Yang disputes with MSNBC

In the fifth debate, Yang did not receive his first question until 32 minutes into the debate and spoke for considerably less time than all the other participants. Yang and his supporters criticized the network for what they saw as an undemocratic process. MSNBC asked Yang to join an unspecified program the weekend of November 24, but Yang said he would not appear until the network "apologizes on-air" and "discusses and includes iscampaign consistent with ispolling". Yang ended his boycott on December 27 by going on the TV show '' All in with Chris Hayes'', stating "I decided that I'd prefer to speak to as many Americans as possible – our message is too important" on Twitter.


Yang qualification for seventh debate

Yang requested for the DNC to conduct more early state polls in December due to a lack of early state polling by qualifying pollsters. The DNC rejected this idea saying that conducting its own polls would call into question its impartiality.


Sixth debate labor disputes

The sixth debate was initially set to be held at the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
. However, the DNC announced on November 6 that UCLA was no longer hosting the debate due to a labor dispute. Due to a
Sodexo Sodexo (formerly Sodexho Alliance) is a French food services and facilities management company headquartered in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. It has 522,000 employees as of 2023, operates in 55 countries and serves 100 million custome ...
worker strike at the new venue,
Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...
, Warren announced that she would not attend the debate unless the labor dispute was resolved, followed soon after by Sanders and Yang. All of the remaining qualifying candidates (Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, and Steyer) then followed suit over the next several days. The dispute was resolved on December 17, allowing the debate to move forward.


2020 debates rule-change petition

Days before the December 2019 debate, for which Booker did not qualify, he sent a petition to the other candidates' campaigns in which he urged the DNC to change the qualification requirements for the upcoming debates in 2020 so that more non-white candidates could participate. All candidates that qualified for the December debate as well as Castro signed the petition. The DNC rejected the request to change the qualification criteria. The petition cites the New Hampshire Democratic Party central committee which voted to urge the DNC to "lift the barriers" on participation in further debates.


Seventh debate moderation controversies

During the seventh Democratic debate, January 14, hosted by CNN and the ''Des Moines Register'', the wording of a series of questions from moderator Abby Phillip directed at senators Sanders and Warren drew criticisms from various other news outlets and from Sanders supporters. Following reports alleging that Sanders said to Warren in a 2018 private conversation that he did not believe that a woman could defeat Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, Sanders was given the question "Senator Warren confirmed in a statement, that in 2018 you told her that you did not believe that a woman could win the election. Why did you say that?" Sanders stated in his reply "as a matter of fact, I didn't say it" and received the follow-up question from Phillip: "I do want to be clear here, you're saying that you never told Senator Warren that a woman could not win the election?" to which Sanders replied "That is correct." Phillip's next question was directed at Warren, and was phrased: "Senator Warren, what did you think when Senator Sanders told you a woman could not win the election?"
MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
hosts Mika Brzezinski and Donny Deutsch the next day on ''
Morning Joe ''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news talk show, which airs weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former United States House of Representatives, US Repr ...
'' criticized the question, describing it as "bizarre" and "a miss" respectively. Senior reporter at ''
HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'' Zach Carter stated that he believes CNN "botched" the debate and Matt Taibi from ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' described the moderation as "shameful" and "villainous".
Jeet Heer Jeet Heer is a Canadian author, comics critic, literary critic and journalist. He is a national affairs correspondent for ''The Nation'' magazine and a former staff writer at ''The New Republic''. The publications he has written for include '' The ...
from ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'' commented that CNN was "the biggest loser of the night." ''
Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative news magazine based in Washington, D.C., consisting of a website and a weekly printed magazine. It is owned by Philip Anschutz through MediaDC, a subsidiar ...
'' senior commentary writer Becket Adams described Phillip's question as "a hatchet job". The controversy also led to negative reactions on social media.


Michael Bloomberg's debate inclusion

In January,
Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...
became the only candidate to simultaneously reach the polling threshold and fail to reach the donor threshold since the DNC began requiring both with the third debate. According to ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
'', some left-wing activists questioned whether the donor threshold should remain part of the qualification requirements, asserting that a candidate polling in the high single or low double digits should not be able to escape in-person scrutiny from other candidates who participate in the debates.


DNC debate qualification rules change

On January 31, the DNC announced that it would not impose a donor threshold starting with the ninth debate. DNC spokesperson Adrienne Watson stated that the prior rules were "appropriate for the opening stages of the race, when candidates were building their organizations and there were no metrics available outside of polling to distinguish those making progress from those who weren't." She said the DNC always had planned to change the debate qualification thresholds and that "we signaled it many times". She argued that the rule change was "not designed to benefit any one candidate" and declared that "every candidate has an equal opportunity to qualify".


Other candidates' reactions to Bloomberg's inclusion

Four candidates opposed the DNC's changing the rules allegedly to make sure Bloomberg qualifies for the debates. Sanders senior adviser Jeffrey P. Weaver stated that the rules changing "in the middle of the game" was wrong and "the definition of a rigged system". He also complained that Bloomberg "is trying to buy his way into the Democratic nomination". Warren tweeted, referencing Bloomberg's personal wealth, that " llionaires shouldn't be allowed to play by different rules". She further objected that the DNC failed to change the debate qualification rules to "ensure diverse candidates could remain on the debate stage". Biden responded to a question about the issue by pointing out that Bloomberg is not "even on the ballot in Nevada" (the location of the first debate where Bloomberg qualified). Tulsi Gabbard remarked that "The DNC's and "corporate media partners'" playing favorites with candidates is "wrong" and that " e DNC would rather hear from a billionaire than the only person of color left in this race, the first female combat veteran ever to run for president." On the other hand, two of the candidates welcomed Bloomberg's inclusion. Buttigieg told reporters, "It is important that we have that process where folks have to stand with their competitors and explain why each of us is the best." Klobuchar took it a bit further, and stated that he should have to answer questions and not "hide behind the airwaves". She claimed that although she could not beat him "on the airwaves", she could beat him in a debate.


Criticisms about the tenth debate


Alleged influence efforts by Bloomberg

There were accusations online and in the media that Bloomberg had stacked the audience in his favor, though nothing was ever proven. The high ticket prices to the event were also heavily condemned. A 60-second ad for Bloomberg's campaign played during the first and second commercial breaks, drawing ire, especially online.


Moderation

CBS was also widely criticized for doing a poor job of moderating the debate and letting candidates talk over each other, often leading to 10–20 seconds of unintelligible shouting.


Criticisms about the eleventh debate


Announcement of change from prior format

Following Super Tuesday, the DNC and CNN announced that the eleventh debate would occur in a seated format with "a more intimate setting" and a "town hall-style production featuring audience questions," instead of the traditional format of the prior debates led by formal moderator questioning. This announcement was opposed by the Sanders campaign as "giving Biden too much of a break" and avoiding an "exchange of ideas", as well as criticized by commentators. These concerns became moot after the
coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
forced the debate to be changed to the traditional moderator questioning format without any audience.


See also

* 2004 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums * 2008 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums * 2016 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums


Notes


References

{{Joe Biden 2020 United States presidential debates
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