Houston: Frontrunner Joe Biden went on the offensive in the third Democratic debate of the 2020 White House race, clashing with top rivals on the fraught issue of health care in America and brushing off attacks from lesser challengers.
Under pressure to appear in command, the 76-year-old Biden pushed hard on Thursday against liberals Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in a three-hour showdown in Houston, Texas.
While the 10 Democrats seeking the party nomination found common ground in their determination to oust Donald Trump, and on the urgency of tackling climate change, their differences were on stark display when it came to health care reform . In a high-octane clash, Biden accused his fellow septuagenarians, senators Sand-ers and Warren, of pushing pipe dreams without a plan to fund them.
“I lay out how I can pay for it, how I can get it done, and why it's better,” the former vice president said, which builds on the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare.
Warren, a rising star in the race, and Sanders, a fixture from the 2016 campaign who launched a liberal political revolution, each put up a spirited defense. “I know what's broken, I know how to fix it and I'm going to lead the fight to get it done,” promised Warren, who has electrified town halls and impressed voters with her exhaustive policy platforms.
