--- title: Democratic Debate: Read Transcript of NBC Debate description: Democratic presidential candidates met for a debate in Charleston, South Carolina. canonical: https://time.com/4183952/democratic-debate-full-text-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-18T03:20:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2024-01-24T13:09:47.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read the Transcript of the Democratic Debate in Charleston og:description: Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley spar. og:url: https://time.com/4183952/democratic-debate-full-text-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27066fab868110c5/69887980cf40a862c3c41848/democratic-debate-sanders-clinton-omalley-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Democratic U.S. presidential candidates (L-R) former Governor Martin O'Malley, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders begin to debate at the start of the NBC News - YouTube Democratic presidential candidates debate in C og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read the Transcript of the Democratic Debate in Charleston twitter:description: Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley spar. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27066fab868110c5/69887980cf40a862c3c41848/democratic-debate-sanders-clinton-omalley-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read the Full Text of the Fourth Democratic Debate in Charleston > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=47e438ab-8aae-4166-ab1a-6c8de8890126&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch the Fourth Democratic Debate In Less Than Four Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): Watch the Fourth Democratic Debate In Less Than Four Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/paDTeAWh.m3u8) (3:47)  _Published 2016-01-18_ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Jan 24, 2024 1:09 PM UTCPublished: Jan 18, 2016 3:20 AM UTC by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Jan 24, 2024 1:09 PM UTCPublished: Jan 18, 2016 3:20 AM UTC Three candidates met for the fourth Democratic debate in Charleston, South Carolina, Sunday night. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley appeared at the debate, which was hosted by NBC News and YouTube and moderated by anchor Lester Holt. Here is a partial transcript of the debate, courtesy of NBC News. Check back later for the full transcript. --- > “” --- ## Transcript Good evening and welcome to the NBC News YouTube Democratic Candidates Debate. I was born to hear Dr. King deliver his I Have a Dream speech. It's important not only that we remember what he stood for but that we pledge to continue his vision. He spent the last day of his life in Memphis Fighting for dignity and higher pay for working people, and that is our fight still. I have supported from day one an instant background check to make certain that people who should not have guns do not have guns. Has voted with the N R A, the gun lobby numerous times. They've both been inconsistent when it comes to this issue. Now, I've never met a self respecting deer hunter that needed a A R 15 to down a deer. There needs to be a concerted effort to address the systemic racism in our criminal justice system. Black lives matter. Who is satisfied that millions of people have police records for possessing marijuana when the CEOs of Wall Street companies who destroyed our economy have no police records. [ APPLAUSE ] We have to make our police departments Look like the communities they serve in their diversity. I want us to defend and build on the Affordable Care Act and improve it. We are spending far more per person on healthcare than the people of any other country. We have the Affordable Care Act. That is one of the greatest accomplishments of president Obama, of the Democratic party, and of our country. What do you see is the difference between what you would do about the banks and what secretary Clinton would do? The first difference is I don't take money from big banks. I don't get personal speaking fees from Goldman Sacks. Senator Sanders called him weak, disappointing. So I'm gonna defend Dodd- Frank, and I'm gonna defend President Obama for taking on Wall Street. [ APPLAUSE ] Taking on the financial industry, and getting results. The debate is over, climate change is real. It is beyond my comprehension [ APPLAUSE ] how we can elect the president of the United States. Somebody like Trump who believes that the climate change is hoax invented by the Chinese. Join me in putting forward of plan to move us to 100 % clean electric energy grid by 2050 it can be done. Iran's behavior in so many ways is something that. We disagree with it. [ SOUND ] I am very proud of the Iran Nuclear Agreement. We have had one good day over 36 years and I think we need more good days before we move more rapidly toward any kind of normalization. What the nightmare is that any of my Republican colleagues appear to want Is to not have learned the lesson of Iraq. I have a three point plan that does not include American ground forces. Qatar happens to be the largest, wealthiest country per capita in the world. They have got to start putting in some skin in the game. << We're on the threshold of a new era of American progress and I believe that we have only need to join forces together and cross that threshold into a new era of American prosperity. << I want to be a president that takes care of the big problems and the problems That are effecting the people of our country every day. [ APPLAUSE ] Thank you. The government of the United States of America belongs to all of us and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors. 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