Mike Bloomberg is the clear loser of his first presidential debate after getting dunked on from all sides

Six Democratic presidential candidates took the stage in Las Vegas on Wednesday night for the ninth — and most combative — debate of the 2020 Democratic primary.

The winners: Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts progressive, came out swinging in the first minutes of the debate, targeting her fire at the newcomer in the race: the billionaire former Mayor Mike Bloomberg of New York City.

"I'd like to talk about who we're running against — a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians," Warren said, drawing audible gasps from the audience. "And no, I'm not talking about Donald Trump. I'm talking about Michael Bloomberg."

Warren continued to pummel Bloomberg throughout the two-hour debate on everything from his history of misogynistic comments to the discriminatory stop-and-frisk policy he implemented in New York City.

But Warren wasn't just on the attack. She also delivered substantive pitches for her policies, including her wealth tax, her investment plan for minority-owned businesses, and her climate plan. And she came to the defense of Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota after former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, attacked her for forgetting the name of Mexico's president in a recent interview.

Warren's performance drew extensive praise from commentators, and her campaign announced it had its best hour of fundraising to date in the middle of the debate.
 

Warren's dismantling of Bloomberg over his treatment of women was one of the most precise and devastating political attacks I have witnessed in twenty years of following this stuff

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 20, 2020

Elizabeth Warren is such an earnest, impressive person.

— Peter King (@peter_king) February 20, 2020

Senator Warren showed up tonight and did her homework, everyone else's homework, and then taught the class.

— Loren DeJonge Schulman (@LorenRaeDeJ) February 20, 2020

Judging by audience response, Warren is the debate's clear winner and Bloomberg is the loser.

She came to hunt him. And she got her pelt.

Now that's only one hour in. But she's going to make the highlight reel & his answer on NDAs w/women is a lowlight for him

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) February 20, 2020

But Warren didn't spend much time attacking the frontrunner in the race: Sen. Bernie Sanders.

In fact, Buttigieg was the only candidate who took multiple, aggressive swings at Sanders.

Overall, Sanders made it out of Wednesday night relatively unscathed — a win for him given his top showings in Iowa and New Hampshire and his surge in recent national polling.
 

The losers: Mike Bloomberg and Amy Klobuchar

Bloomberg struggled throughout the debate to make a positive case for his candidacy, instead spending most of his time defending his comments about women, apologizing for stop-and-frisk, and disputing various claims about his record.

Every candidate onstage took multiple opportunities to attack Bloomberg. Former Vice President Joe Biden noted that Bloomberg at one point called the Affordable Care Act "a disgrace," rejected the Obama administration's efforts to rein in his policing tactics in New York, and was first elected mayor as a Republican.

Sanders tore into Bloomberg for donating to the campaigns of Republican members of Congress, Buttigieg called Bloomberg and Sanders the two "most polarizing figures on this stage," and Klobuchar accused Bloomberg of "hiding behind his campaign ads."

Klobuchar also spent a large chunk of the debate on defense. At one point, she was asked to explain why she wasn't able to name the president of Mexico in a recent interview on Telemundo. The senator described the lapse as a mistake, and Buttigieg jumped in to call it an example of inexcusable ignorance.

The senator from Minnesota retorted at one point, "I wish everyone was as perfect as you, Pete."

Klobuchar was also forced to defend her record as the top prosecutor in Minnesota's Hennepin County, during which time she oversaw the prosecution of a 16-year-old black boy who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. But new evidence and clear inconsistencies in the case indicate Myon Burrell, now 33, may be innocent.

Just to recap: Bloomberg had quite a first half that looked nothing like his ads.

Bloomberg: I'm embarrassed by the way stop and frisk turned out.
Bloomberg: I only have some women with NDAs who didn't like my jokes.
Bloomberg: I'm too wealthy to use Turbo Tax.

— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) February 20, 2020