--- title: First 2020 Democratic Debate: Read the Transcript description: Elizabeth Warren, Beto O'Rourke, Cory Booker and more debated abortion, climate change, and more in Miami. Read the full transcript. canonical: https://time.com/5615358/2020-first-democratic-debate-transcript/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-06-27T03:12:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T23:51:33.478Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's Everything the Candidates Said at Wednesday's 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate og:description: Read a transcript of Wednesday night's presidential debate og:url: https://time.com/5615358/2020-first-democratic-debate-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2db6ec9cb1c921f3/6989ff2db3fce37b5b0c525a/democratic-debate-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5217 og:image:height: 2935 og:image:alt: Democratic Presidential Candidates Participate In First Debate Of 2020 Election Over Two Nights og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Everything the Candidates Said at Wednesday's 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate twitter:description: Read a transcript of Wednesday night's presidential debate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2db6ec9cb1c921f3/6989ff2db3fce37b5b0c525a/democratic-debate-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Everything the Candidates Said at Wednesday's 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 27, 2019 3:12 AM UTC  MIAMI, FLORIDA - JUNE 26: Democratic presidential candidates New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio (L-R), Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), former housing secretary Julian Castro, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, and former Maryland congressman John Delaney take part in the first night of the Democratic presidential debate on June 26, 2019 in Miami, Florida. A field of 20 Democratic presidential candidates was split into two groups of 10 for the first debate of the 2020 election, taking place over two nights at Knight Concert Hall of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, hosted by NBC News, MSNBC, and Telemundo. MIAMI, FLORIDA - JUNE 26: Democratic presidential candidates New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio (L-R), Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), former housing secretary Julian Castro, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, and former Maryland congressman John Delaney take part in the first night of the Democratic presidential debate on June 26, 2019 in Miami, Florida. A field of 20 Democratic presidential candidates was split into two groups of 10 for the first debate of the 2020 election, taking place over two nights at Knight Concert Hall of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, hosted by NBC News, MSNBC, and Telemundo. Joe Raedle—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 27, 2019 3:12 AM UTC Americans had their very first chance to see a group of 2020 Democratic hopefuls face off Wednesday night as 10 candidates stood on stage together in Miami during the [first presidential debate](https://time.com/5608626/first-2020-democratic-debate-latest-news/) of the long election cycle. A second group of candidates will debate Thursday night, including front-runner Joe Biden. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the only candidate on stage polling in double digits, faced off against Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and a host of other fired-up candidates who debated issues including healthcare, immigration, abortion rights, gun control and the economy during the event hosted by NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo. Here is a transcript of their remarks: --- > “” --- ## Elizabeth Warren gets the first question — on the economy --- > “” --- ## Sen. Klobuchar is asked if her rivals’ programs are akin to a “magic genie” --- > “” --- ## Beto O’Rourke weighs in on the top tax rate for high earners --- > “” --- ## Sen. Booker on whether he would support breaking up large tech companies — and Warren’s response --- > “” --- ## Castro and Rep. Gabbard address the gender pay gap --- > “” --- ## Mayor de Blasio, Rep. Delaney and Gov. Inslee on income inequality --- > “” --- ## Rep. Ryan and Sen. Warren on whether manufacturing jobs can ever come back --- > “” --- ## Candidates face off about their healthcare plans (with a show of hands) --- > “” --- ## Sen. Klobuchar hits back at Gov. Inslee over abortion comments --- > “” --- ## Castro and Sen. Warren also speak out on abortion --- > “” --- ## Sen. Booker and O’Rourke on the opioid crisis --- > “” --- ## Castro and other candidates on how they would address undocumented immigrants --- > “” --- ## Candidates on Iran and whether they would renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal --- > “” --- ## NBC encounters some technical difficulties --- > “” --- ## Candidates on gun control --- > “” --- ## Candidates on whether they could get their Supreme Court nominees confirmed --- > “” --- ## Sen. Warren and others on how they would deal with Mitch McConnell --- > “” --- ## Gov. Inslee and other candidates on climate change --- > “” --- ## Candidates on LGBTQ rights and civil rights --- > “” --- ## Candidates on their approach to foreign policy --- > “” --- ## Candidates on the biggest geopolitical threat to the U.S. --- > “” --- ## Whether they would pursue impeachment --- > “” --- ## Their closing statements --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5615358/2020-first-democratic-debate-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5615358/2020-first-democratic-debate-transcript/"},"headline":"Here's Everything the Candidates Said at Wednesday's 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate","datePublished":"2019-06-27T03:12:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T23:51:33.478Z","description":"Read a transcript of Wednesday night's presidential debate","url":"https://time.com/5615358/2020-first-democratic-debate-transcript/","keywords":["2020 Election","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2db6ec9cb1c921f3/6989ff2db3fce37b5b0c525a/democratic-debate-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2db6ec9cb1c921f3/6989ff2db3fce37b5b0c525a/democratic-debate-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Democratic Presidential Candidates Participate In First Debate Of 2020 Election Over Two Nights","caption":"Democratic Presidential Candidates Participate In First Debate Of 2020 Election Over Two Nights","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2020-election/","name":"2020 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5615358/2020-first-democratic-debate-transcript/","name":"Here's Everything the Candidates Said at Wednesday's 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate"}}]}] ```