Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg endured a punishing assault in his debut Democratic presidential debate Wednesday from rivals who savaged him for parachuting in late and throwing astronomical amounts of money at the race.
The Las Vegas showdown came at a tense time in the party's nomination race, with leftist firebrand Bernie Sanders coalescing as the frontrunner and some challengers fighting for their very survival.
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US media magnate Bloomberg found himself the target from the start, as candidates from Sanders to former vice president Joe Biden impugned the man whose sudden prominence in polling has scrambled the race to defeat President Donald Trump.
"Understand this: Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another," Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a fiery attack on Bloomberg.
"Democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women, and of supporting racist policies," she added.
Sanders hit Bloomberg hard on his vast wealth at a time of "grotesque" income inequality in America.
"Mike Bloomberg owns more wealth than the bottom 125...
