WATCH: Journalist Confronts Elizabeth Warren Surrogates: If ‘Uniter,’ Why Attack?

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Alex Wagner, host of The Circus on Showtime, asked surrogates for the presidential campaign of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) after the Democrat debate on Wednesday night whether her sharp jabs onstage at opponents conflicted with her attempts to be the “unity” candidate.

Warren drew praise from pundits for launching attacks at billionaire oligarch Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, over his past rhetoric about women.

But her style also raised questions about whether she could unify the party, as she has promised to do.

“She came out of the gate talking about ‘horse-faced’ and ‘lesbians,’ and said Amy Klobuchar’s health care plan could fit on a Post-It note,” Wagner said.

“That is not anything she’s said before. And those were very sharp words at the beginning of the debate. Are you telling us this is not a new strategy from the Warren campaign?”

One surrogate conceded that Warren’s approach had been different, but argue that it had ben appropriate for the circumstances in the debate.

Wagner was not satisfied, calling Warren’s approach “napalm on the stage tonight.”

“OK, but, this is the key thing: unity is not about those people on that stage. It’s about unifying this party,” a surrogate said.

Another surrogate said that as a woman, Warren’s effort to draw distinctions with other candidates were useful as a way of talking about key issues.

“The style, yes, may be a departure. But the point is that she is speaking to issues that can affect people.”

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.