Losers

Bernie Sanders on race, again: If there was one issue that dogged Sanders in his 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton, it was his inability to appeal to minority voters. And for one striking moment on Thursday, that problem reared its ugly head

The candidates were asked about the declining diversity in their debate field, and when the question was presented to Sanders, he opted instead to try to talk return to a previous topic, climate change. Debate moderator Amna Nawaz of “PBS NewsHour” cut in, though. “Senator, with all respect, this question is about race. Can you answer the question as it was asked?”

The crowd roared. Sanders tried to rescue it by saying people of color would suffer from climate change, too, and then he offered some boilerplate about problems that plague minority communities. It was one moment, but it came just after the only minority candidate onstage, Andrew Yang, gave a detailed answer citing the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and it briefly revived some old demons.

Sanders also, shortly thereafter, responded to a quote Barack Obama recently gave about old white men running countries. When debate moderator Tim Alberta noted Sanders was the oldest candidate onstage, Sanders interjected, “And I’m white, as well!” It wasn’t awful, but it may not have been the time to emphasize that.