(FOX) - Rising Democratic co-frontrunner Elizabeth Warren came under attack from all sides during Tuesday night's presidential debate, as former Vice President Joe Biden defiantly defended his son's business practices overseas and vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
All of the 12 Democrats on stage, meanwhile, backed an impeachment inquiry against the president. In a sign of apparent disunity and hesitation among Democrats, though, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said only minutes before the debate began that there would be no vote on formally beginning an impeachment inquiry.
The debate marked the first time the candidates met since Pelosi held her press conference last month unilaterally declaring that the inquiry had begun -- a move that the White House has said is legally insufficient to actually begin the proceedings. The candidate lineup set a record for most politicians on a single debate stage, topping the 11 GOP candidates who assembled in 2016.
"Sometimes there are issues that are bigger than politics, and I think that's the case with this impeachment inquiry," Warren, D-Mass., asserted when asked why Congress should bother with the process given the impending election.
Biden has been at the top of the crowded field for months, but has come under withering assault from the White House concerning his son Hunter's lucrative overseas business dealings
the elder Biden faced something of a timid confrontation over the issue during the debate, when CNN anchor and debate moderator Anderson Cooper broached the topic by stating, without evidence, that President Trump's accusations of misconduct by the Bidens were "false."
But Cooper pressed Joe Biden on Hunter's admission in atelevised interview earlier in the daythat he made a mistake by obtaining a lucrative role on the board of a Ukraine company, with no relevant expertise, while his father was the vice president and handled Ukraine policy. (“I know I did nothing wrong at all. Was it poor judgment to be in the middle of something that is a swamp in many ways? Yeah,” the younger Biden said Tuesday morning.)
Meanwhile, Warren has climbed to co-front runner status but faces new questions about her dubious claims to Native American ancestry.
She was under attack from all sides at the debate for refusing to answer whether her "Medicare for All" plan would raise taxes for the middle class. Warren once again dodged the issue, insisting only that "costs will go down" for the middle class.
I appreciate Elizabeth's work, but again, the difference between a plan and a pipe dream is something you can actually get done," Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said to Warren. "At least Bernie’s being honest here. ... I’m sorry, Elizabeth.”
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg also lambasted Warren on health care: “Your signature is to have a plan for everything, except this," he said.
Buttigieg specifically knocked Warren for the nonanswer, saying her failure to offer a direct answer is "why people are so frustrated with politicians" and arguing that Medicare for All would "unnecessarily divide this country."
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