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“What’s even worse is I hear gunshots in my neighborhood,” Booker said. “I think I’m the only one, I hope I am the only one on this panel here that had seven people shot in their neighborhood just last week.” Booker was the mayor of Newark from 2006–2013. Throughout his debate, Booker repeatedly focused on his ties to his Newark neighborhood. “I will tell you this,” he said.

“We do not talk enough about trans-Americans, especially African American trans-Americans, and even incredibly high rates of murder right now,” he said. He compared the transgender rights struggles to the civil rights of black Americans, recalling a time when they were lynched in America. Booker also said that up to 30 percent of LGBT schoolchildren were afraid to go to school. He then argued that Democrats needed to do more than just support the Equality Act proposed in Congress. “We need to have a president that will fight to protect LGBTQ Americans every single day from violence,” he said.

Lester Holt, Chuck Todd, Savannah Guthrie, Jose Diaz Balart, and Rachel Maddow will be the moderators for the NBC debate, and Breitbart News’ Joel Pollak is on the ground at the debate site. The first round of debates will be like training camp in sports—they will matter most to Democrats who must avoid being cut while frontrunners will only have to avoid season-ending injuries. To qualify for the next round of debates, Democrats will need to get 2% support in three sanctioned polls and get 130,000 unique donors. On Wednesday, Sen.

White House counsel Pat Cipollone explained the decision in a letter: “The Office of Special Counsel found that Ms. Conway violated the Hatch Act dozens of times,” House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said. “Let me repeat that – dozens of times – and has recommended that the president fire her, but he refuses to do so.” “In fact, he refuses to take any disciplinary action against her,” he added. Cummings cited “two million” federal employees who adhere to the Hatch Act every day, adding, “Nobody is above the law.” “We wanted to hear from her directly.

NEW YORK — NBC News’ coverage of the first Democratic debate of the 2020 campaign season Wednesday was marred by a technical glitch that led President Donald Trump to tweet that the network ‘‘should be ashamed.’’ The snafu, in the middle of the debate, left viewers and candidates confused by crosstalk apparently caused by a failure to turn off the microphones of NBC personalities who had left the stage. Otherwise, NBC ran a substantive, fast-moving debate that occasionally veered off course, primarily due to 10 candidates eager to make the most of limited time.

WASHINGTON — Ten Democrats seeking the presidency tussled on a Miami stage Wednesday night in the opening debate of the 2020 campaign, with 10 more on tap Thursday. A look at some of their statements and how they compare with the facts: Amy Klobuchar, senator from Minnisota: “I am just simply concerned about kicking half of America off of their health insurance in four years, which is exactly what this bill says.” THE FACTS: Mostly true. Klobuchar was referring to Sen.

In the first two hours of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary debates, there wasn’t a single moment that could change the course of the race. And, along those lines, no one candidate so obviously crushed the evening, at least compared to the others. That said, some White House hopefuls did better than their competition, and so the letter grades below are based on two criteria. First is the candidate’s debate performance, including the substance of their answer and ability to captivate a television audience under pressure.

MIAMI — Standing elbow-to-elbow on a crowded debate stage Wednesday, ten of the Democratic candidates seeking to take on President Trump got a simple question from a moderator: Would they raise their hands if they wanted to abolish private health care in favor of a government-run system? Only two candidates did so: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

A total of 20 Democratic candidates will take to the debate stage in Miami this week — 10 each on Wednesday and Thursday evening. But most of the focus will be on the top five candidates in the polls who have broken away from the rest of the pack. What does each of them need to do? Former Vice President MORE One of Biden’s most important objectives is, politically speaking, to abide by the Hippocratic oath: “First, do no harm.” The former vice president has raised doubts about his standing as the front-runner with a couple of serious stumbles recently