By Bronte Price, PoliticKING
Last night’s Democratic debate in Flint, Michigan, showed the increased tension between both of the Democratic candidates since the primary elections began. Clinton and Sanders clashed on multiple topics throughout the debate, including the auto industry bailouts, guns, old political battles and ties to Wall Street.
Right off the bat, Sanders accused Clinton of supporting "disastrous" trade policies, which he said contributed to corporate America's decision to move manufacturing from cities like Flint, to places like Central America and Asia. Clinton shot back, referencing Sanders’ refusal to vote for a bailout for the auto industry, which she said was included in the Bush administration’s attempts to stop a financial crisis. "If everybody had voted the way he did, I believe the auto industry would have collapsed, taking 4 million jobs with it," she said.
WATCH: "Excuse me, I'm talking." - @BernieSanders, @HillaryClinton get testy at last night's #DemDebate. https://t.co/dEhJpBtJIi
— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 7, 2016
Clinton also took on Sanders gun policy, accusing him of being too close to the NRA. "You talk about corporate greed. The gun manufacturers sell guns to make as much money as they can make," she said. Sanders shot, back saying that Clinton’s plans for gun policy would effectively amount to a ban on the manufacturing of guns.
At one point, Sanders answered sarcastically to a question Anderson Cooper asked him, which seemed to frustrate the Vermont senator. Cooper asked, “Your policies are about expanding government: why should the people of Flint trust that more government is the answer?” Sanders responded, “I suppose they can trust the corporations who have destroyed Flint. ... We could trust them, I’m sure,” he said. “Or maybe, Anderson, maybe we should let Wall Street come in and run the city of Flint because we know their honesty and integrity has done so much for the American people.”
.@HillaryClinton and @BernieSanders can agree when it comes to mocking the GOP debates https://t.co/zxZdltSIoU | AP pic.twitter.com/rKaitdra2T
— POLITICO (@politico) March 7, 2016
Although the candidates disagreed on much throughout the debate, they did agree on at least one thing, that the Democratic debates are always more substantive than the GOP debates.
“I just want to make one point,” Hillary said. “We have our differences and we get into vigorous debate about issues but compare the substance of this debate with what you saw on the Republican stage last week.” The audience applauded. Sanders piggybacked on Clinton’s sentiment. “Let me pick up on the last point the secretary made,” Sanders said. “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.”
Here’s what Randi Weingarten has to say about Hillary Clinton and the Democratic primaries:
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