Democratic Debate 2016: Clinton, Sanders Take Gloves Off in Memorable Michigan Democratic Debate
The election season's Republican presidential debates often revert to trash talking while Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have, for the most part, averted from so much as talking over one another.
That was the tone until Sunday when underlying tension reached a boil at the seventh Democratic debate in Michigan.
A night focused on discussing racism, gun control, and the ongoing Flint water crisis may best be remember for Sanders' rancorous statements, first pointing out Clinton's role in the 2009 auto bailout and her plan to bring back manufacturing jobs.
"I am very glad that Secretary Clinton discovered religion on this issue but it's a little bit too late," Sanders said.
Sanders cited Clinton's support for failed trade agreements, which he claims cost 800,000 jobs nationwide, and said she was too late in supporting the current Trans Pacific Partnership.
"I was on the picket line in the early 1990s against NAFTA because you didn't' need a PhD in economics to understand that American workers should not be forced to compete against people in Mexico making 25 cents an hour."
Clinton said Sanders opposed the auto bailout, which Sanders referred to as the "Wall Street bailout." He began tying Clinton to Wall Street when Clinton interrupted.
"Excuse me, I'm talking," Sanders fired back, drawing roars from the audience.
Every woman watching the #DemDebate cringed when Bernie shushed Hillary this way: https://t.co/56KbfRl2Nj pic.twitter.com/sdse9H3ePC
— Mic (@micnews) March 7, 2016
Clinton Defends Wall Street Speeches
Sanders said that if he is a one-issue candidate, as Clinton has said, his one goal is to hold Wall Street accountable for their role in the Great Recession.
"While we are on Wall Street, one of us has a super PAC," Sanders said. "One of us has raised $15 million for that super PAC. One of us has given speeches on Wall Street for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now, I kind of think if you get paid a couple hundred thousand dollars for a speech, it must be a great speech."
Clinton said she will released speech transcripts as soon as other presidential candidates do the same. The reason they want it released, Clinton said, is because her opponents don't believe she can stand up to Wall Street.
CNN moderator Anderson Cooper then asked if Sanders is willing to release his own speeches.
"All right, look, Secretary Clinton wants everybody else to release it. Well, I'm your Democratic opponent. I release it. Here it is. I don't give speeches to Wall Street for hundreds of thousands of dollars, you got it."
"Democrats Are Not Always Right"
The candidates disagreed on renewing the Export-Import Bank, which gives loans to companies exporting American goods. While Clinton argued it keeps jobs in the U.S, Sanders said it only serves to benefit corporations.
Sanders is the member of the Democratic caucus against reauthorizing the federal bank and drew comparison to Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz in doing so.
"Well, let me tell you, I don't want to break the bad news," Sanders said. "Democrats are not always right. Democrats have often supported corporate welfare."
Racism Blind Spots
Clinton has an overwhelming advantage over Sanders in winning over minorities. She's garnered over 80 percent of the African-American vote in primaries and caucuses held over the last month, including most that participated in Super Tuesday.
Asked if she has any racial blind spots, Clinton said she can't pretend to share the same experience African-Americans have endured.
"I think being a white person in the United States of America, I know that I have never had the experience that so many people, the people in this audience have had," Clinton said. "Andi I think it's incumbent upon me, and what I have been trying to talk about during this campaign, is to urge white people to think about what it is like to have 'the talk' with your kids, scared that your sons or daughters, even, could get in trouble for no good reason whatsoever."
Sanders' response to the same question immediately sparked outrage on social media for its stereotypes of black people.
"When you're white, you don't know what it's like to be living in a ghetto," Sanders said. "You don't know what it's like to be poor. You don't know what it's like to be hassled when you walk down the street or get dragged out of a car."
Memorable Quotes
"Well, Senator Sanders voted for it as well. Are you going to ask him the same question?" - Clinton, asked about her support for the racially-charged 1994 Crime Bill.
"You're not the only person whose heart was broken," - Sanders on not supporting a lawsuit filed by Sandy Hook parents against a gun manufacturer.
"It is raining lead in Flint, and the state is derelict in not coming forward with the money that is required." - Clinton on the Flint water crisis.
"You know, we are, if elected president going to invest a lot of money into mental health. And when you watch these Republican debates, you know why we need to invest in that." - Sanders
"Secretary Clinton has a super PAC, which is raising huge amounts - well, I hate to say the word 'huge." - Sanders, inadvertently mimicking Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
Top Tweeted moment for #DemDebate: Sanders says he hates to say the word "yuge", discussion of GOP candidates. https://t.co/HTMat6EKfM — Twitter Government (@gov) March 7, 2016
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