The Presidential Forum at Netroots Nation 2019 was packed—with intriguing candidates, nuanced answers, a lively audience, and lots of opinions on Twitter. Some people loved candidate answers, while others weren’t impressed. A lot felt surprising and original, though major themes were consistent in terms of social media reactions (and the relative cheers and boos from the audience.)
Let’s start from the beginning and relive the forum, using people’s reactions as a guide through candidate highlights—and some unexpected audience participation. Heads up: Many, many videos and embeds are below.
People were impressed with Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio:
Including reminiscing:
City Council Member at Large for Philadelphia, Helen Gym, got an enormously positive response:
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand went first and talked about ICE raids, Trump, and immigration:
Then white privilege, which has been a big topic for her lately:
And a follow-up about reparations, to which she directly said: “I do.”
And as an overall thought:
Also, she warmed just about every heart by holding a baby:
Twitter went wild for Warren before she even entered the stage:
When asked about why she keeps returning to Netroots, she was incredibly sincere—and inspiring:
People loved her thoughts on giant corporations:
She got serious about racial justice and cash bail systems:
Honestly, people just adore her—and the way she handled protestors in the audience:
Here’s the sign:
And people especially loved her quip about Trump:
Probably surprising no one, Castro shone, especially on reproductive health:
Especially when it comes to trans rights, which do not get enough attention:
People started leaving after Warren, which is far from courteous, but perhaps they were hoping for a selfie?
Still, Inslee focused on the issues:
You can read up on our other presidential forum coverage here, here, and here. And check out a (free!) live stream here:
What moments stood out to you the most?