IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Top candidate lines on the first Democratic debate night

Some of the most memorable lines from each of the 10 candidates at Wednesday night's faceoff.
Image: Debate Night One Best lines
The first Democratic debate — a two-night event — is hosted by NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo. The first night aired Wednesday; the second will air live across all three networks starting at 9 p.m. ET Thursday.Adrian Lam / NBC News

Ten presidential candidates took the stage in Miami for the first night of the Democratic primary debate. Here are each candidates' most memorable and stand out moment of the night, in order of how they appeared on stage:

Bill de Blasio

  • “There's something that sets me apart from all of my colleagues running in this race and that is that for the last 21 years I have been raising a black son in America. And I had to have very, very serious talks with my son, Dante, about how to protect himself on the streets of our city and all over this country.”

Tim Ryan

  • "If you want to beat Mitch McConnell, this better be a working-class party. If you want to go to Kentucky and take his rear end out, and if you want to take Lindsey Graham out, you have to have a blue-collar party.”

Julián Castro

  • “We need a Marshall Plan for Honduras, and Guatemala, and El Salvador, so that people can find safety and opportunity at home instead of coming to the United States to seek it.”

Cory Booker

  • "I live in a low income black and brown community. I see every single day that this economy is not working for average Americans. The indicators that are being used from GDP to Wall Street's rankings is not helping people in my community.”

Elizabeth Warren

  • "What's been missing is courage. Courage in Washington to take on the giants. That's part of the corruption in this system. It has been far too long that the monopolies have been making the campaign contributions, have been funding the super PACs, have been out there making sure that their influence is heard and felt in every single decision that gets made in Washington."

Beto O’Rourke

  • "So we must begin impeachment now so that we have the facts and the truth and we follow them as far as they go and as high up as they reach and we save this democracy. And if we've not been able to do that in this year or the year that follows, and under my administration, our Department of Justice will pursue these facts and ensure that there are consequences, there is accountability, and there is justice. It's the only way that we save this country."

Amy Klobuchar

  • “I don't think we should conduct foreign policy in our bathrobe at 5 in the morning.”

Tulsi Gabbard

  • "Maybe many people in this country can relate to the fact that I grew up in a socially conservative home, held views when I was very young that I no longer hold today."

Jay Inslee

  • "The biggest threat to the security of the United States is Donald Trump."

John Delaney

  • "We are on a mission to find the America that's been lost. Lost through infighting, lost through inaction. We're so much better than this. We're a country that used to do things."