Who knew that the most dramatic and intriguing moment of Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential primary debate would happen in the immediate aftermath?
Most of us watching the debate from the cheap seats were looking forward to how Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders would address the he said/she said reports from CNN on who allegedly said what at the now-infamous December 2018 meeting. The two senators made a non-aggression pact of sorts with each other in advance of announcing their respective presidential candidacies at the meeting.
But if you turned off your TV as soon as the debate was over, you missed the best part. As all of the candidates were respectfully giving back pats and shaking hands with each other, Warren turned to walk towards Bernie, who extended his hand out to shake hers.
Except Warren drew back from his attempted handshake and appeared to admonish him sternly. Sanders, in turn, seemed put off by what she was saying and gestured a few times with his hands animatedly before walking off the stage.
Watch the intense moment below:
CNN panelists like former Obama senior adviser David Axelrod noticed the chilly exchange:
Unfortunately, what exactly was said isn’t known to anyone, but Warren and Sanders (and probably Tom Steyer, though he’s not saying anything useful), but the body language spoke volumes:
Speculation is at a fever pitch that Warren likely was not pleased that Sanders (again) denied saying a woman couldn’t be elected president when asked about it by moderator Abby Phillip. She then predictably took Warren’s side of the argument when asking her to respond.
Watch below:
Most people reading this are probably not Bernie fans, but I think after watching that exchange and how CNN handled it that most would agree the fix was in from the start. Case in point, this chyron:
Bernie Sanders supporters are seriously angry about how moderators asked questions on the “sexism” issue and the optics of Warren’s snub. Overnight, #NeverWarren, #WarrenIsASnake, and #CNNisTrash all trended on Twitter:
I wouldn’t underestimate how this feud is playing out between the two camps, even more so from their rank and file supporters than their campaign spokespeople. Supporters of Sen. Sanders are still raw over how the DNC gamed the primary system for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and that has carried over to his 2020 presidential candidacy as well.
All that anger and rage will fuel more negative official and unofficial reports about Warren’s history at a time where she needs all the positive press she can get.
But as Prof. Jacobson has documented, Warren has earned every bit of scrutiny she’s receiving in the debate over what happened at that December 2018 meeting.
Warren has no one to blame but herself for all the backlash. She has a history of not being honest with voters about her past. Those include her false claims of Native American heritage, that her children only went to public school, and allegedly being let go from a teaching job because she was pregnant.
Even if Warren told the truth about her conversation with Sanders, she’s made it harder for people to believe her. Thanks to conservative sleuths, new media websites, and President Trump, Democratic voters know she’s not above telling a whopper or two at the expense of other candidates to get ahead.
Bless her heart.
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