Twitter Can't Get Enough Of Liz Warren Tearing Mike Bloomberg Apart At The Debate

Wednesday, Feb. 19 marked the ninth debate of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, and there was a new face on the stage: former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. As the lone multibillionaire on the debate stage, Bloomberg quickly became a target for his fellow Democratic candidates. Much to Twitter users' pleasure, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was particularly relentless in her criticism of Bloomberg, noting his history of allegedly "hiding his tax returns, of harassing women, and of supporting racist policies like redlining and stop and frisk." Representatives for Bloomberg did not immediately respond to Elite Daily's request for comment on this criticism. Still, these tweets about Elizabeth Warren at the Feb. 19 debate are full of awe at her debate performance as she works to rejuvenate her candidacy.

Even before the debate began, Warren was critical of Bloomberg's alleged use of his own money to "buy his way into the debate." In a biting tweet on Feb. 18, Warren suggested that she and her fellow Democrats could use the debate to provide "a live demonstration of how we each take on an egomaniac billionaire." The Massachusetts senator stuck to this promise when she faced off against Bloomberg on Wednesday night.

“We’re running against a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians," Warren said at the debate. "And no, I’m not talking about Donald Trump, I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg." According to CNN, these insults were attributed to the former New York mayor in a book of alleged Bloomberg quotes gifted to him by an employee in 1990, though Bloomberg has denied ever saying them. Representatives for Bloomberg did not immediately respond to Elite Daily's request for comment about the alleged quotes.

Warren also slammed Bloomberg over reports that his eponymous media company had allegedly mistreated women who worked there. Representatives for Bloomberg did not immediately respond to Elite Daily's request for comment about his company's alleged mistreatment of women employees. Warren subsequently demanded that Bloomberg release women who may have filed complaints from any potential non-disclosure agreements they may have signed.

"We are not going to beat Donald Trump with a man who has who knows how many non-disclosure agreements and the drip, drip, drip of stories of women saying they have been harassed and discriminated against," Warren said.

Bloomberg wasn't the only target of Warren's criticism, though. She sought to distinguish herself from her fellow progressive on stage, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, by taking a different approach to Medicare for All — a subject of contention between their respective voter bases. Warren was even more critical of health care plans released by Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, calling them sparse at best. Warren also offered a few words of criticism for former Vice President Joe Biden's record, though with Bloomberg on the stage for the first time, Biden was largely able to evade many of the attacks that have come his way during past debates.

What was clear on Wednesday was nobody on the debate stage could avoid Warren's criticism, and that certainly got Twitter users' attention. In fact, the New York Post reported Warren was the most tweeted-about candidate after the debate, and as of Thursday afternoon, the hashtag #PresidentElizabethWarren was still trending, along with phrases like "finish him."

Warren's performance at the debate appeared to revitalize her candidacy in the Democratic primary. Following a fourth-place showing in the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 11, many suggested that her campaign would flounder, despite the fact that she performed better than Biden in New Hampshire and polled higher nationally than Buttigieg in a Feb. 19 Washington Post-ABC News poll. As the Nevada caucuses and South Carolina primary approach, it remains to be seen whether Warren's widely praised debate performance will give her the voting surge she needs.