AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Former Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, wait on stage to participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate at CNN Studios in Washington, Sunday, March 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
- Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders outlined their responses to the coronavirus during CNN's Democratic debate Sunday night
- Biden insisted on focusing on the task at hand, while Sanders pointed to systemic failures and the need for reform.
- The virus as the backdrop let both candidates play to their strengths - Biden as a steady hand with experience in handling crises and Sanders as a prescient reformer being proven right by a lack of assistance for those affected by COVID-19.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Both former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders managed to turn the coronavirus outbreak into a supporting argument for their presidential campaigns on Sunday night.
During the one-on-one debate on CNN without a studio audience, much of the evening was dominated by how each candidate would respond to the virus that has already killed more than 6,000 people worldwide.
Biden kept coming back to his experience handling the Ebola outbreak from the White House during the Obama administration, and how he could immediately steady the ship and unify not only the country but the global community to mitigate the damage.
Sanders outlined how he has unfortunately been proven right on the need to enact universal health care and paid leave as coronavirus ravages the American public and economy.
"There are people who watching this program tonight who are saying, 'I'm not feeling well. Should I go to the doctor? But I can't afford to go to the doctor,'" Sanders said. "'What happens if I am sick? It's going to cost thousands of dollars for treatment. Who's going to feed my kids?'
"We are the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people."
Biden countered Sanders' call for a single payer Medicare For All plan by pointing to the severity of the outbreak in Italy.
"It is not working in Italy right now, and they have a single payer system," Biden said.
The night went on like throughtout several questions from the moderators.
Biden would call for a steady hand as President Donald Trump continually downplays and misrepresents the severity of the virus, while Sanders pointed to structural issues undergirding the current crisis.
If the campaign to remove Trump were a house fire, Biden is calling for a return to a competent fire department to put it out right away, while Sanders is demanding the building codes be rewritten to prevent the next one.
The delegate math may already be in Biden's favor to secure the nomination, but the decluttered debate - the first of this cyle in a one-on-one format, and the first without a live audience - allowed both candidates to distill their pitches on how they would try to defeat Trump and how they would govern.
Next Story
I'm an interior designer. Here are 10 things in your living room you should get rid of.
Higher-paid employees looking for work are having a tough time, and it could be a sign of a shift in the workplace 
A software engineer shares the résumé he's used since college that got him a $500,000 job at Meta — plus offers at TikTok and LinkedIn
7 scenic Indian villages perfect for May escapes
Paneer snacks you can prepare in 30 minutes
Markets crash: Investors' wealth erodes by ₹2.25 lakh crore
Stay healthy and hydrated: 10 immunity-boosting fruit-based lemonades
Here’s what you can do to recover after eating oily food
