7 standout moments from the 3rd Democratic debate
Jonathan Bachman/Reuters
On Thursday night, 10 of the top Democratic presidential candidates gathered in Houston for the third Democratic primary debate, hosted by ABC.
Right off the bat, the entrepreneur Andrew Yang made waves by announcing an online raffle to give 10 American families a "Freedom Dividend" universal basic income of $1,000 a month for a year.
Later in the debate, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro directed several barbs at former Vice President Joe Biden, who served with Castro in the Obama administration.
Here are the biggest moments from Thursday night's debate.
On Thursday night, 10 of the top Democratic presidential candidates gathered in Houston for the third Democratic presidential primary debate.
Overall, the debate, hosted by ABC, had less direct conflict and fewer dramatic clashes between the candidates than the June and July debates.
Right off the bat, the entrepreneur Andrew Yang made waves by announcing an online raffle to give 10 American families a "Freedom Dividend" universal basic income of $1,000 a month for a year.
Read more: Biden touts Obamacare while slamming Sanders and Warren's healthcare plans
Later in the debate, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro directed several barbs at former Vice President Joe Biden, who served with Castro in the Obama administration.
"I'm fulfilling the legacy of Barack Obama and you're not," Castro told Biden of his healthcare plan, to which Biden retorted, "That'll be a surprise to him."
While the rest of the debate was relatively tame, Sen. Kamala Harris of California got in some zingers at President Donald Trump, and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont thoroughly denounced Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and explained his vision of democratic socialism.
Here's a rundown of the seven biggest moments:
Andrew Yang announced his campaign would give away a $12,000 annual universal basic income to 10 families.
Jonathan Bachman/Reutrers
Yang's flagship campaign proposal is a universal basic income of $1,000 a month for every American adult, which the entrepreneur calls the Freedom Dividend.
The raffle, first reported by Politico, is set to begin online next week and give 10 winning families $1,000 a month for a year.
"It's time to trust ourselves more than our politicians," Yang said. "My campaign will now give a Freedom Dividend of $12,000 per year to 10 families. This is how we will get our country working for us again, the American people."
Julián Castro went after Joe Biden on both healthcare and immigration.
Mike Blake/Reuters
One of the biggest clashes of the night was between Biden and Castro, who served together in President Barack Obama's administration as the vice president and the secretary of housing and urban development.
Castro argued that while his healthcare plan would automatically enroll people who didn't have private insurance into a public option when they lost their jobs, for example, Biden's would require people to actively enroll.
"The difference between what I support and what you support is that you require them to opt in, and I do not require them to opt in," Castro said. "Barack Obama's vision was not to leave 10 million people uncovered — he wanted every single person in this country to be covered."
Biden argued that people would not have to buy in to Medicare under his plan, but Castro pushed back, saying, "You just said two minutes ago that people would have to buy in — are you forgetting already what you said two minutes ago?"
"I'm fulfilling the legacy of Barack Obama and you're not," Castro concluded, to which Biden retorted, "That'll be a surprise to him."
On the issue of immigration, Castro further accused Biden of constantly name-dropping Obama while shying away from parts of Obama's record that have been criticized by immigration advocates.
And Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar admonished their rivals Biden and Castro for trading barbs with each other.
Mike Blake/Reutrers
Buttigieg and Klobuchar had otherwise unremarkable nights on the debate stage, but the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and the Minnesota senator did get in some digs at their opponents.
"This is why presidential debates have become unwatchable. This reminds people of what they cannot stand about Washington — people scoring points at each other, people poking at each other," Buttigieg said after Castro and Biden's spat.
"A house divided cannot stand," Klobuchar further admonished, quoting Abraham Lincoln.
Kamala Harris drew laughs and applause for saying Trump's handling of trade policy reminded her of the Wizard of Oz.
Mike Blake/Reuters
"The bottom line is this: Donald Trump, in office on trade policy, you know, he reminds me of that guy in 'The Wizard of Oz,' you know, when you pull back the curtain, it's a really small dude," Harris, the California senator, said to laughter.
She also jokingly clarified that she wasn't talking about the ABC moderator George Stephanopoulos, who is known for — in addition to many aspects of a distinguished career in politics and journalism — his short stature.
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Kamala Harris: "The bottom line is this: Donald Trump, in office on trade policy, you know, he reminds me of that guy in "The Wizard of Oz," you know, when you pull back the curtain, it's a really small dude?" pic.twitter.com/jxNtJLGlZf
The moderator Jorge Ramos put pressure on Bernie Sanders to call out Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as a dictator.
Mike Blake/Reuters
"Let me be very clear: Anyone who does what Maduro does is a vicious tryrant," the Vermont senator said, a much stronger denunciation of Maduro than his previous comments.
Ramos also challenged Sanders to explain the difference between Maduro's left-wing authoritarianism and Sanders' vision of democratic socialism.
"To equate what goes on in Venezuela with what I believe is extremely unfair," Sanders said. "I'll tell you what I believe in terms of democratic socialism. I agree with what goes on in Canada and in Scandinavia — guaranteeing healthcare to all people as a human right. I believe the United States should not be the only major country not to offer paid family leave or medical leave."
While discussing educational disparities, Biden went on a confusing tangent about how parents keeping their record players on helped their kids learn more words.
Mike Blake/Reuters
Here's the moment when Biden made an outdated suggestion for parents to keep record players on to help kids learn, before immediately switching to talk about American involvement in Venezuela:
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"We bring social workers into homes with parents to help them deal with how to raise their children...they don't know quite what to do...Make sure you have the record player on at night." - @JoeBiden pic.twitter.com/w3Wc6rGrh4 #maga #DemDebate
And in his closing statement, Buttigieg opened up about serving in the military as a gay man during the era of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." He also spoke of his decision to come out while serving in elected office.
Jonathan Bachman/Reuters
Buttigieg made history by using a presidential debate stage to candidly discuss his decision to come out at the risk of his career, saying, "I was not interested in not knowing what it was like to be in love any longer."
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Pete Buttigieg reflects on his decision to come out and the challenges of being a "military officer serving under 'don't ask, don't tell,'" and being "an elected official in the state of Indiana when Mike Pence was governor" https://t.co/T37EaVOvlU #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/DBDMKMPvSH
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