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SALT LAKE CITY — With the first round of the second Democratic debate over, here are some reactions from across the board.
Atlantic writer Emma Green wrote that Democrats are focusing on the difference in morality between them and President Trump.
- "The great irony of Donald Trump’s presidency is the dizzying contradiction between his personal conduct and his policies, and his claim to be the defender of American values. Onstage at the first part of the second Democratic presidential primary debates tonight, Trump’s potential 2020 opponents moved aggressively to take morality back for their team."
Sen. Mitt Romney pointed out Sen. Bernie Sanders' lack of success in bringing his proposals to fruition.
NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben noted that one of the biggest issues of the debate was health insurance and health care. This could set the tone for the rest of the primary.
- "This exchange encapsulated one of the biggest arguments in tonight's debate over health care: whether candidates would raise taxes, and whether families' total health care bills would go up."
Fox News contributor Douglas Schoen commented on the divide of the far-left candidates, Sen. Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and other moderate candidates.
- "A clear divide emerged between Warren and Sanders on the far left and the more moderate candidates, with South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota standing out."
The New York Times opinion columnist Frank Bruni noted how the other candidates targeted Sanders and Warren for their more progressive ideas.
- They were "portraying Sanders and Warren as fantasists peddling policies — single-payer health care, the decriminalization of illegal border crossings, the elimination of all or most college debt — that were poorly conceived pipe dreams and, worse yet, recipes for President Trump’s re-election."
Edward-Isaac Dovere, reporter for The Atlantic, wrote that Democratic voters and presidential candidates worry that they might not win against Trump in 2020.
- "Democratic voters have become pundits in this primary, constantly worrying about who they think can beat Donald Trump and who they think everyone else thinks can beat Donald Trump. In last night’s debate, the candidates became pundits too. Two-and-a-half years after Election Night 2016, and a year and a half until Election Night 2020, Democrats are still clearly, desperately, viscerally afraid none of them will win."
Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich told Fox News that the winner of this debate was Donald Trump.
- "It was a really good night for Donald Trump. He could hardly have hoped for a better debate."