Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren continued their 'unspoken truce' during the 4th debate

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 16 October 2019

It sure felt like most of the Democratic candidates on the primary debate stage on Tuesday evening considered Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to be the frontrunner, as several of the field's more moderate voices directed their most ardent critiques at her. But she did have one ally — as usual, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) refused to go after his old friend.

There were some hints that Sanders would begin to distance himself from Warren a bit. Indeed in an interview that aired on Sunday, Sanders clarified that he considers himself a more radical and left-leaning candidate than Warren. But that didn't carry over to the debate stage — in fact, the two even teamed up a few times.

That said, several analysts have pointed out that they're supporters don't always see eye to eye, so the pair may eventually have to either prove themselves to the other's base or come to some sort of reckoning before all is said and done. For now, though, the truce holds.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.