Warren retains lead

Surging White House hopeful Elizabeth Warren defended a barrage of attacks from fellow Democrats at the party’s fourth 2020 debate Tuesday, cementing her status as a frontrunner in the race to challenge Donald Trump.

The president himself loomed large as the dozen Democratic contenders trained their fire on him, calling for his impeachment and assailing a Syria troop pullout that Joe Biden slammed as “shameful.”

“The impeachment must go forward,” thundered Warren, the progressive senator who is neck and neck with former vice president Biden at the head of the 2020 nomination race -- a stance loudly echoed by her fellow Democrats on stage.

Dragged into the scandal, Biden made clear he believes Trump should be impeached -- and pushed back hard on the president’s charge he himself intervened in Ukraine to protect his son Hunter.

 The other heavyweight in the race --78-year-old liberal Senator Bernie Sanders -- suffered a mild heart attack recently.

But it was Warren who weathered the sharpest attacks from her fellow Democrats -- on everything from kitchen-sink issues such as healthcare and taxation, to foreign policy and even business automation.

On health -- a flashpoint issue for American voters -- Warren faced stiff blowback from moderates who challenged her to come clean on how much her “Medicare for All” plan would cost.

Ex-congressman Beto O’Rourke accused Warren -- who advocates a wealth tax on the biggest fortunes -- of “punitive” policies, and “pitting some part of the country against the other.”