Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah agree the Warren-Sanders showdown was the Iowa debate's main event

Trevor Noah and Stephen Colbert recap the Iowa debate

(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/The Late Show, The Daily Show)

By Peter Weber, The Week US

last updated 15 January 2020

The Late Show has some suggestions to spice up the Democratic presidential debates.

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"Tonight was the last debate before Democratic voting begins in February," and "for the first time in the election cycle, the Democrats had an all-white debate stage," Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday's live Late Show. "Once again, J.Lo. was robbed." Former Vice President Joe Biden "admitted he was wrong" to vote to authorize the Iraq War, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) "provided some historical context," he said, and he ribbed Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) for flubbing her "local example of women succeeding in politics."

But "the big story heading into the debate tonight was the falling-out between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren," Colbert said. It flared up over a disagreement on whether Sanders told Warren a woman can't win the White House in 2020, and "when Bernie was asked about it" at the debate, he "categorically denied the charge." Asked to respond, "Warren brought down the hammer," he said, joking that the men on stage had collectively lost more than 10 elections after her answer.

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"To a lot of young Democrats, the beef between Bernie and Warren must feel like seeing your parents getting divorced" or "R2-D2 and C3PO become enemies," Trevor Noah said at The Daily Show. "Bernie was sticking to his story that he never said a woman can't be president," and Warren shot back that "maybe none of these men could be president," he marveled. "Not since Kill Bill have I seen one woman obliterate that many men in one fell swoop."

But "other than what we just saw, there wasn't much new in this debate," Noah said. "They touched on health care, trade policies, impeachment, and to be honest, it was more of the same ... All in all, today's debate wasn't that exciting. And I guess this is what happens when you only have white people at your party." He ended with a devilishly clever strategy for Mike Bloomberg. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.