Democratic debate: Protesters interrupt Joe Biden during his closing segment
10 presidential hopefuls took to the stage in Houston
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The leading 10 candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination took to the debating stage, bringing heavyweights in the field Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders all on to the same stage for the first time.
The presidential hopefuls tackled healthcare, gun control, education and more, with several heated clashes between the rivals.
In the last section of the debate, former Vice President Biden was interrupted when he went to answer a question about his “most significant professional setback”.
Although it was unclear what the protest was about, people in the hall have said the demonstrators chanted: “We are DACA recipients. Our lives are at risk.”
Earlier in the debate Mr Biden had been questioned about deportations under the Barack Obama administration, a question which he deftly dodged.
He came under particular fire from Julian Castro, both over who could claim the mantle of being the true successor to Barack Obama and, controversially, over Mr Biden's memory.
Beto O'Rourke focused on gun violence and said he would institute a mandatory buyback scheme for assault rifles, saying: "Hell yes, we are going to take your AR-15s."
Tonight’s candidates were: Mr Biden, Ms Warren, Mr Sanders Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, and Andrew Yang.
Catch-up on events as they happened below.
Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
O'Rourke says Trump "poses a mortal threat to people of colour all across this country."
He says that he is calling for reparations.
Castro name dropping many of the African Americans that have come to be household names in America, after they have been killed by police while unarmed.
"We know Donald Trump is a racism but there is no red badge of courage for calling him that," Booker says.
"We have systemic racism that is eroding our nation," Booker says.
Harris says there have been "many distortions of my record" when asked why she did not do more to protect minorities while serving as attorney general of California.
Harris, defending her time as attorney general of California, says that she made the decision to try to reform the criminal justice system from the inside, and recognizes that can be somewhat messy.
Klobuchar is also defending her time as a prosecutor, and says she is "proud of the work our staff did" in Minnesota.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments