The top 10 Democrats in the 2020 presidential race are preparing for a showdown this evening, whereJoe BidenandElizabeth Warrenwill meet for the first time head-to-head in the primary season.
The debate comes following a busy day in Washington, where theHouse Judiciary Committeeapproved a key resolution as it gears up towards potential impeachment ofDonald Trump. The resolution has defined the boundaries of a probe that Democrats hope could lead to said impeachment, and potentially his removal from office. The move allows the committee to designate certain hearings as impeachment hearings, and empower staff to question witnesses for a longer period of time.
Mr Trump is traveling to Baltimore today for a Republican fundraising event and the House Republican Conference member retreat dinner, and is scheduled to speak just after 7pm EST. That is about an hour before the debate is set to start, meaning any delay could put the two events into conflict.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
From 15 p € 0. 18 $ 0. 18 USD 0. 27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
Follow live updates
Just two hours from showtime, here is a look at where these candidates stand in the polls, according toan aggregate fromReal Clear Politics.
From top to bottom:
- Joe Biden – 26 .8 per cent
- Bernie Sanders – 17 .3 per cent
- Elizabeth Warren – 16 8 per cent
- Kamala Harris – 6.5 per cent
- Pete Buttigieg – 4.5 per cent
- Beto O’Rourke – 2.8 per cent
- Cory Booker – 2.3 per cent
- Amy Klobuchar – 1.2 per cent
- Julián Castro – 1.0 per cent
Andrew Yang – 3.0 per cent
Worth watching out for tonight is what Andrew Yang does on that stage.
He has made a point of mentioning that his big goal is to get himself next to Joe Biden so folks at home will ask “Who’s that Asian guy next to Joe Biden”, and his campaign has been teasing a special surprise.
The #YansDebateSurprise is trending on Twitter , and has led to quite a bit of speculation. Will he give everyone in the audience $ 1, 000? Will he crowd surf? Is he going to do magic tricks? Who knows!
But, it’s quite entertaining to ponder.
O’Rourke’s from El Paso, was the congressman there, and in the aftermath of the Walmart shooting, he spent a lot of time there, not just offering condolences but calling out Trump for his racist language. To people there, he could do not wrong. Folks in Houston appear a lot more skeptical about his ability to push through in the presidential race. They could see him in the Senate, but not the White House.
Sharp contrast talking to people here in Houston about O’Rourke, as compared to residents of El Paso
But the new poll shows Warren’s support is growing here too, and that O’Rourke has slipped to third place in his home state. Viathe Texas Tribune.
One thing that struck me as fascinating, was a new poll that shows Warren’s numbers have been building up in Texas, as well as nationally. Until this point, the general thinking was that Warren might be too progressive for Texas, and that only Biden – or maybe Beto O’Rourke – could really put the state in play in 2020
The mood in the press area is steadily building up. No great surprises that people want to see how Biden does under this most intense spotlight, and against the potential onslaught from Elizabeth Warren.
How am I doing, did you ask? Fine, thank you. Several rainstorms, bouts of humidity, a bit of battle with the traffic to get here, but all in a day’s work for readers of this live blog!
Greetings from the fabulous city of Houston, and the even more wonderful Texas Southern University where tonight’s debate is taking place
Mr Trump says he will make a deal with Democrats on gun control “if they want to make a deal”.
But, he also claimed that he believes Democrats may just be trying to take away people’s guns.
Mr Trump says that he respects “all of them” when asked if he respects any of the candidates debating tonight.
“You see that? I’m getting much better as a politician. You’d never expect that answer, “he said.
Mr Trump claims that his rollback of regulations has led to a resurgence of the US economy.
“I think our country is in one of the best conditions that it has ever been in, “he said.
Mr Trump now claiming he has “tremendous African American support” and that his support among African Americans has reached an “all time high”.
Mr Trump is taunting Joe Biden a bit, saying he believes he should be able to win the Democratic nomination if he “doesn’t make any big mistakes”.
Mr Trump is speaking to reporters on the White House lawn, and says he will have to watch tonight’s Democratic debates as a “re-run”.
He predicts that it will come down to Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders.
Joe Bidenis seeking to hold off a surge fromElizabeth Warren, as the two leadingDemocratsfinally appear on the same stage.
Three decades after a presidential debate was last held in Houston, a 1987 event the then Democratic senator participated in, Mr Biden is struggling to hold on to his status at frontrunner.
A poll, commissioned by theEconomist/ YouGov, this week put Mr Biden and Ms Wa rren on 26 points, suggesting support for him has remained stable while her numbers had increased 3 points. The poll put Bernie Sanders in third place, with sixteen points.
After two events which saw 20 Democratic hopefuls take to the stage over the course of two nights, a format many said was unhelpful, the debate in Houston will see the top ten candidates all appear together.
Well this certainly doesn’t sound great: the US budget has officially surpassed $ 1tn (£ 810 .4bn) under a president who once declared he would be capable of balancing the nation’s budget and getting the deficit down to zero after just eight years.
Reports are coming in that Donald Trump’s administration plans to divulge the name of a Saudi official who allegedly conspired with the hijackers behind the attacks of September 11. Story coming shortly:
The Trump administration plans to revoke an Obama-era regulation that provided federal protection to many US wetlands and streams.
Two Environmental Protection Agency officials with knowledge of the plan said theadministration aims to substitute the rulewith its own version.
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and Army for Civil Works Assistant Secretary RD James will discuss the decision later this week.
Donald Trump has promised to repealthe 2015 Obama rule, which defines what bodies of water fall under federal jurisdiction.
Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings