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At the start of Thursday’s second Democratic presidential debate on NBC, 2020 candidates had sharp words for Donald Trump and the Republican party, making for a notable shift in tone from the first presidential debate Wednesday.
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) kicked off the debate with a zinger. When asked whether Democrats had a duty to explain how they would pay for their proposals, the senator from California turned the question around.
“I hear that question,” she said, “but where was that question when the Republicans and Donald Trump passed a tax bill that benefits the top one percent and the biggest corporations in this country, contributing at least one trillion dollars to the debt of America, which middle class families will pay for one way or another?” Watch:
Harris said that she would propose a $500 monthly tax credit for every family making less than $100,000 per year.
“Working families need support and need to be lifted up,” she said. “Frankly, this economy is not working for working people.”
Then, when asked whether having a “socialist” on the ticket would swing voters toward Trump, Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) highlighted the president’s 2016 campaign promises as evidence that voters deserve more.
“The American people understand that Trump is a phony,” he said. “That Trump is a pathological liar and a racist. And that he lied to the American people during his campaign.”
He, like Harris, referenced the new tax code.
“President Trump, you’re not standing up for working families when you’re trying to throw 32 million people off the healthcare they have,” he said. “Eighty-three percent of your tax benefits go to the top one percent.”
