Democratic debates: Biden and Harris set for rematch after spiky first clash – live news | US news

Bernie Sanders’ campaign said in a statement that the candidate has raised more than $1 million from over 70,000 contributions since his debate performance last night.

“Bernie Sanders commanded the debate, his vision and ideas dominated the stage, and he left absolutely no doubt that he is the best candidate ready to take this fight to Donald Trump and finally bring the change we need to America,” campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement.

The figures are sure to spark envy among Sanders’ many competitors who have not yet qualified for the fall debate. One of the requirements is to attract at least 130,000 unique donors.

But Sanders’ fundraising haul was almost certainly aided by the sale of stickers reading, “I wrote the damn bill!” The line about Medicare-for-all was arguably Sanders’ most successful moment last night, and he quickly moved to capitalize on it. Candidates tonight will be looking to do the same.

In the immediate run-up to his debate tonight, Joe Biden made an important announcement: he is now on Snapchat.

The former vice president’s Snapchat was turned over to one of his senior advisers, Symone Sanders, and his granddaughter Finn in the hours before the debate. It also showed some footage of Biden walking through the debate site in Detroit.

Immigrant rights protesters have blocked Detroit’s Windsor Tunnel, which connects the city to Canada, to demand that 2020 Democrats commit to ending deportations.

The immigrants’ rights group Movimiento Cosecha said 21 protesters were arrested and hundreds more were marching to the debate site.

“A vague commitment to support immigration reform is an empty promise that we cannot accept,” said Carlos Rojas, a Cosecha spokesperson. “The immigrant community has learned this lesson and we will not let candidates get away with another round of empty promises.”

Another spokesperson, Cindy Gamboa, noted Detroit’s proximity to a border meant a heightened presence of immigration officers. “Immigrants live in constant fear of being stopped by agents because of the color of their skin and once they notice you are driving without a driver license it very often it leads to detention and deportation.”

Hi, live blog readers – and once again greetings from Detroit!

The Guardian team is here covering the second night of the Democratic debates, and we’ll be providing live updates and analysis once things kick off at 8 p.m. EDT.

A quick refresher on what happened last night:

• Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren teamed up against their more moderate debate opponents to defend progressive proposals like Medicare-for-all. Defying some pundits’ expectations that the two like-minded senators would attack each other, Warren and Sanders instead voiced similar points about the country needing bold change to combat its challenges.
• None of the more moderate candidates – like John Delaney, John Hickenlooper and Steve Bullock – seemed to score the breakout moment they needed to make it to the fall debate. They repeatedly went after Warren and Sanders for endorsing “fairytale” policies but never seemed to clearly articulate their own alternatives.
• Marianne Williamson once again fascinated audiences with her stirring answers on slavery reparations and the water contamination crisis in nearby Flint, Michigan. She was the most-searched candidate on Google during last night’s debate.
• CNN moderators Dana Bash, Don Lemon and Jake Tapper – who will return tonight – were strict about enforcing time limits on answers, which at times seemed to stifle the flow of debate among the candidates.

Tonight’s participants will likely run into many of these same challenges, but more on that later. Stay tuned.