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JUDY WOODRUFF: Democrats were unified this week in their swift condemnation of President Trump's racist tweets. But, as Lisa Desjardins reports, a new rift among presidential candidates played out on the 2020 campaign trail.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), Presidential Candidate: We believe that health care is a human right.
LISA DESJARDINS: On the trail, the political heat this week has been over health care and a policy duel between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. In Waukee, Iowa, Biden unveiled a health care plan that would keep and expand the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
JOSEPH BIDEN (D), Presidential Candidate: My proposal is, we take Obamacare, and we build on the parts that have been taken away, and we add a public option, which means that anyone who has their employer-based health insurance they like, they can keep it.
LISA DESJARDINS: Medicare for all, meaning universal government-run health care, that's something championed by Sanders, who sharply fired back with this ad and a graphic saying Biden has been lying about Medicare for all. Speaking at George Washington University in the nation's capital, Sanders made his pitch for universal care.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Every family in America would receive comprehensive coverage. All basic health care needs are covered. And in the process, middle-class families would save thousands of dollars a year by eliminating their private insurance costs as we move to a publicly funded program.
LISA DESJARDINS: As they battle on policy, campaigns are also tallying up the fund-raising fight. From April through June, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg led the pack, raising $24.8 million. Three others, Biden, Sanders, his fellow Senator Elizabeth Warren, were not far behind. California Senator Kamala Harris brought in less, but still was way ahead of the rest of the crowded field. Candidates also got their tickets for the second debate series. Of the 24 Democrats running for president, these 20 will be on stage next week in Detroit. There is one new face who made the cut, Montana Governor Steve Bullock. It is a wide field, but appears unified on one front this week: the president's tweets telling four congresswomen of color to go back to where they came from.
JULIAN CASTRO (D), Presidential Candidate: His behavior and his comments are disgusting. They're racist.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), Presidential Candidate: The current president of the United States has defiled the office of the president of the United States.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), Presidential Candidate: It's racist. But, mostly, it's not what you want our president to be.
LISA DESJARDINS: Today, President Trump said Democrats are the ones dividing country, again pointing to the freshman congresswomen.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: What they have said is a disgrace to them, to the Democrats and, frankly, to our country.
LISA DESJARDINS: The debate continues outside of Washington. The president and Congress both left town for the weekend. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Lisa Desjardins.
