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Recap: Night 2 Of The Democratic Primary Debate In 100 Words (And 7 Videos)

Democratic presidential candidates take the stage at the opening of Night 2 of the primary debate in Miami on Thursday.
Drew Angerer
/
Getty Images
Democratic presidential candidates take the stage at the opening of Night 2 of the primary debate in Miami on Thursday.

Updated at 12:21 a.m. ET

California Sen. Kamala Harris swung at Joe Biden for working with segregationists and opposing busing legislation. She told the former vice president how she helped integrate her California school as Biden struggled to respond, zeroing in on President Trump throughout the night instead. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders admitted "Medicare-for-all" would raise middle-class taxes but said it would lower health care costs. South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg invoked his faith as one reason Republicans are wrong on family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border. And all the candidates said their health care proposals would give care to undocumented immigrants.


7 Highlights, In Video

Harris, the only black candidate onstage, went after Biden on his civil rights record while telling her own personal story.

Biden responded and said Harris mischaracterized his record.

As the crowded debate stage got too unwieldy, Harris said America doesn't want a "food fight."

Buttigieg argued that Republicans who invoke their faith are being hypocritical when it comes to the crisis at the border.

Sanders defended his democratic socialist beliefs.

Sanders spoke about his tax and health care plans.

And California Rep. Eric Swalwell tried to get in a dig at Biden's age.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Jessica Taylor is a political reporter with NPR based in Washington, DC, covering elections and breaking news out of the White House and Congress. Her reporting can be heard and seen on a variety of NPR platforms, from on air to online. For more than a decade, she has reported on and analyzed House and Senate elections and is a contributing author to the 2020 edition of The Almanac of American Politics and is a senior contributor to The Cook Political Report.