'Phony,' 'pathological liar': Donald Trump gets 87 mentions in two nights of Democratic debates

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In night two of the Democratic debate, candidates bore down into issues, and each other. Kamala Harris went after Joe Biden for his past on busing.
USA TODAY

President Donald Trump was a more popular target during the second Democratic presidential debate Thursday, with former Vice President Joe Biden leading the charge.

Trump was mentioned 52 times, significantly more than the 35 times candidates referred to him during the first debate, according to NBC.

Biden mentioned Trump nine times, the same amount as Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Wednesday. 

Feisty second night: Joe Biden was battered, Kamala Harris strong

Biden vs. Harris: Democratic rivals go on the attack on the debate stage

Biden’s first mention came when he was asked to explain what he meant when, in a discussion of income inequality, he told a group of wealthy donors: “Nothing would fundamentally change.”

“Look, Donald Trump has put us in a horrible situation,” Biden said. “We do have enormous income inequality…and I would be going about eliminating Donald Trump’s tax cut for the wealthy.”

As Democrats were on stage, Trump was attending the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan. But Trump’s meetings with leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel didn’t stop from him weighing in on the Democratic debate.

“I just passed a television set,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Merkel. He criticized the debate as not “very exciting” and excoriated Democrats for saying they would provide healthcare coverage for immigrants in the country illegally.

And the winner is… Trump declares a victor in Democratic debates: himself

During the debates, Biden was far from the only candidate who had choice words for Trump.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called Trump a “pathological liar and a racist.”

“The American people understand that Trump is a phony,” he said.

Talking about the administration’s treatment of migrant children, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Trump has “torn apart the moral fabric of who we are.”

“He is attacking a basic principle of America’s moral core,” echoed author Marianne Williamson. “We open our hearts to the stranger.”

Gillibrand also accused Trump of being “hell-bent on starting a war with Iran.”

Going to war in a bathrobe

Wednesday night, Klobuchar’s most notable reference to Trump came when she likewise accused the president of making the nation less safe.

“And this president is literally every single day 10 minutes away from going to war, one tweet away from going to war,” she said. “And I don’t think we should conduct foreign policy in our bathrobe at 5:00 in the morning, which is what he does.”

Trump’s view: Donald Trump declares a winner of the Democratic debates … himself

Unlike during the first debate, all candidates on stage Thursday mentioned Trump at least once. 

Gillibrand and Williamson were tied for second behind Biden, mentioning Trump a total of seven times. California Rep. Eric Swalwell only mentioned him once, the fewest of all candidates during the second debate.  

The night before, neither Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren nor New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio referred to Trump at all.

Debate takeaways: ‘That little girl is me’: Harris attacks Biden in key debate moment.

Night One Google Champ: Tulsi Gabbard was the most searched candidate on Google after the Democratic debate in Miami

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Contributing: Maureen Groppe

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