Twitter Users Pull Out The Popcorn As Democratic Debate Goes Into Total Smackdown

The Democratic debate quickly intensified into a heated showdown Wednesday night as candidates wasted no time in tearing into Michael Bloomberg ― and each another ― during the billionaire presidential contender’s first appearance on the debate stage.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) set the tone, taking aim at Bloomberg from the get-go by pointing to the former New York City mayor’s controversial stop-and-frisk policing policy, which disproportionately affected Black and Latino people.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) came out (and kept on) swinging, blasting Bloomberg for his wealth and past offensive comments about women.

“I’d like to talk about who we’re running against: a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians,” Warren said. “And no, I’m not talking about Donald Trump. I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg.”

Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, also dove in, blasting Sanders and Bloomberg as the “two most polarizing figures on this stage.”

Warren went on to go after Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) for their health care proposals, labeling Buttigieg’s “thin” plan as nothing more than a “PowerPoint” and scorning Klobuchar’s as nothing more than a “Post-It Note.”

“I take personal offense because Post-It Notes were invented in my state,” Klobuchar replied. Buttigieg countered that he was “more of a Microsoft Word guy.”

Later, the two Midwestern candidates exchanged blows. Buttigieg criticized Klobuchar for forgetting the name of Mexico’s president, and Klobuchar accused him of “trying to say that I’m dumb.” They faced off again toward the end of the debate: Klobuchar derided the mayor’s lack of experience, and Buttigieg retorted that you “don’t have to be in Washington to matter.”

As things on the debate stage spiced up, so did the reactions on Twitter. Here’s a glimpse of what viewers had to say.

Related...

Democratic Voters Now See Sanders As Primary Front-Runner, Poll Finds

Democrats Swap Pre-Debate Barbs As Mike Bloomberg Faces First Test

Elizabeth Warren Did Not Come To Play

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.