Michael Bloomberg faced a barrage of attacks at his first Democratic presidential debate on Wednesday as his rivals rushed to criticize the billionaire businessman for his wealth, record on race and history of sexist comments.
Bloomberg seemed nervous and hesitant in a rough debut before a national audience. The debate gave voters their first unscripted look at the media mogul and self-funding former New York mayor, who has surged in polls while spending hundreds of millions of his own dollars on television ads.
Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg lined up to go after Bloomberg, frequently shouting over one another as they vied for attention in the most contentious of the nine Democratic White House debates.