2020 Democratic Party Presidential Debate in Washington, D.C.

Submission 4,452

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Overview

The 2020 Democratic Party Presidential Debate in Washington, D.C. is the 11th 2020 Democratic presidential debate held on March 15th, 2020, at CNN studio in Washington, D.C. Unlike previous debates, due to COVID-19 coronavirus quarantine measures, there was no live audience for this debate to prevent the spread of the virus. Only former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders participated in the debate.

Background

On March 12th, 2020, Democratic National Committee Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa released a statement^[1] on the 11th debate, announcing that the debate would take place in Washington, D.C. with no live audience. They said:

“Out of an abundance of caution and in order to reduce cross-country travel, all parties have decided that the best path forward is to hold Sunday’s debate at CNN’s studio in Washington, D.C., with no live audience.

On March 15th, 2020, CNN held the 11th Democratic presidential debate between Biden and Sanders at the CNN Studio.

Developments

Online Reaction

Handshake

Unlike previous debates because of the spread of coronavirus, Sanders and Biden bumped elbows instead of shaking hands. Reuters tweeted, ^[2] "Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders do an elbow bump in place of a handshake as they greet other before the start of their debate, held in CNN's Washington, D.C., studios without an audience because of the global coronavirus pandemic." The post received more than 7,600 likes and 1,300 retweets in less than one day (shown below).

Go To The YouTube

During the debate, Biden and Sanders argued about cutting social security and Medicaid. When Biden denied ever attempting to cut benefits, Sanders said, "Alright, America. Go to the website right now. Go to the YouTube right now."

The Sanders campaign tweeted, referencing the I Am Once Again Asking for Your Financial Support meme, tweeted, "WE ARE ONCE AGAIN ASKING YOU TO GO TO THE YOUTUBE." The post received more than 170,000 views, 15,000 likes and 3,400 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below).

WE ARE ONCE AGAIN ASKING YOU TO GO TO THE YOUTUBE #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/Yt5VClkwEY

— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) March 16, 2020

Bernie Force Chokes Biden

During an exchange between Biden and Sanders about Biden's super PACs, the Vermont senator raised his arm toward Biden in a manner that reminded some of the Star Wars character Darth Vader using the "force choke" maneuver (clip below).

Shortly after the moment, people made jokes about the moment. Twitter^[3] user @DaveDuFourNBA tweeted a screenshot of the moment with the caption, "Can’t believe Bernie broke out the force choke on his ass." The post received more than 12,000 likes and 1,700 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, left).

Twitter^[4] user @@isaiah_kb posted the image with the quote from the film Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope as the caption. The post received more than 1,200 likes and 170 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, center).

Twitter^[6] user @notdred tweeted, "Extremely rude for Bernie to Force-choke Biden imo." The post received more than 319,000 likes and 58,000 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).

Hours later, Redditor ^[5] scuba-stevo shared the picture in the /r/MemeEconomy subreddit. The post received more than 74,000 points (90% upvoted) and 1,200 comments in less than 24 hours.

Biden Commits to Female VP

During the debate, Biden committed to picking a female candidate as his running mate (clip below).

Supporters of Biden were excited by the announcement. Twitter^[7] user @mmpadellan tweeted, "I'm finding it difficult to focus on the substance of this debate while my mind keeps drifting on the fact that Biden said he'd name a woman to be his VP. I hope it's Kamala Harris." The post received more than 18,000 likes and 1,900 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, left).

Critics of Biden were less enthused. Twitter^[8] user @gringatears wrote, "Biden: I will make my VP a woman! #Equality! Sanders: I’m not going to pick someone just because they’re a women, they’d have to be a progressive woman. Take notes, white feminists." The tweet received more than 1,600 likes and 390 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).