Nevada Democratic Debate Preview: Start Time, Channel, Who’s Participating & What To Expect

by Katherine HugginsFebruary 19, 2020, 12:57 pm2020 Election, Daily Digest, News, News Feed >

Tonight’s Democratic debate taking place at 9 p.m. EST will be the first to feature billionaire Mike Bloomberg, who refused to accept campaign contributions — a previous requisite number of individual donations was recently eliminated.

Former Vice President Joe Biden will have to put on a good show in order to stop his faltering in the polls. If he fails to perform well in the Nevada caucuses, his odds of winning the Democratic nomination will decrease significantly.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) appears to have a solid lead in Nevada and just has to maintain the momentum he has been building and avoid any personal attacks.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) is hoping to charm the audience in the debate as she did in New Hampshire, which caused her to unexpectedly surge to third place in the primary.

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Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has often been criticized for lacking supporters of color, and due to Nevada’s large Latino population, tonight will be the first demonstration of how well he is able to appeal to that demographic.

Despite Sanders being the pack leader, it will likely be Bloomberg who takes the most hits tonight.

His nearly $63 billion net worth makes him the perfect target for Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren‘s (D-Massachusetts), who have campaigned against oligarchs. Both of these socialist-leaning candidates have been openly critical of Bloomberg’s wealth, and have accused the former New York City mayor of trying to buy the nomination.

“I don’t think anyone ought to be able to buy their way into a nomination or to be president of the United States,” Warren said at the Feb. 7 debate.

In the previous nine debates, for the most part, Warren has avoided attacking her political opponents and instead just pushes her policy ideas. However, after Klobuchar surpassed her in New Hampshire, her strategy may have shifted for tonight.

The debate will be streamed on NBC News, MSNBC, NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com, NBC News mobile app, thenevadaindependent.com, NBC News and MSNBC Facebook pages.