--- title: Democratic Debate: Clinton Describes Relationship With Putin description: Hillary Clinton's slightly awkward response drew laughter when she was asked about her relationship with Vladimir Putin. canonical: https://time.com/4184103/hillary-clinton-vladimir-putin-democratic-debate/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-18T05:16:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:12:47.719Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's How Hillary Clinton Described Her Relationship With Putin og:description: Her slightly awkward response drew laughter from the crowd og:url: https://time.com/4184103/hillary-clinton-vladimir-putin-democratic-debate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1df04f7051535f74/698879833c16395d7345b987/democratic-debate-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: CHARLESTON, SC - JANUARY 17: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton participates in the Democratic Candidates Debate hosted by NBC News and YouTube on January 17, 2016 in Charleston, South Carolina. This is the final debate for the Democratic og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's How Hillary Clinton Described Her Relationship With Putin twitter:description: Her slightly awkward response drew laughter from the crowd twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1df04f7051535f74/698879833c16395d7345b987/democratic-debate-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's How Hillary Clinton Described Her Relationship With Putin  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 18, 2016 5:16 AM UTC  Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton participates in the NBC - YouTube Democratic presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, S.C. on Jan. 17, 2016. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton participates in the NBC - YouTube Democratic presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, S.C. on Jan. 17, 2016.Andrew Burton—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 18, 2016 5:16 AM UTC At the[ fourth Democratic debate](http://time.com/4183625/democratic-debate-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders) in Charleston Sunday night, [Hillary Clinton](http://time.com/4184019/democratic-debate-hillary-clinton-president-obama/) [was asked](http://time.com/4183952/democratic-debate-full-text-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/) about her personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Her slightly awkward response drew laughter from the crowd: “Well, my relationship with him, it’s — it’s interesting,” the former Secretary of State said. But then she recovered, continuing, “It’s one, I think, of respect. We’ve had some very tough dealings with one another. And I know that he’s someone that you have to continually stand up to because, like many bullies, he is somebody who will take as much as he possibly can unless you do.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4184103/hillary-clinton-vladimir-putin-democratic-debate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4184103/hillary-clinton-vladimir-putin-democratic-debate/"},"headline":"Here's How Hillary Clinton Described Her Relationship With Putin","datePublished":"2016-01-18T05:16:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:12:47.719Z","description":"\"Well, my relationship with him, it's -- it's interesting\"","url":"https://time.com/4184103/hillary-clinton-vladimir-putin-democratic-debate/","keywords":["Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1df04f7051535f74/698879833c16395d7345b987/democratic-debate-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1df04f7051535f74/698879833c16395d7345b987/democratic-debate-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CHARLESTON, SC - JANUARY 17: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton participates in the Democratic Candidates Debate hosted by NBC News and YouTube on January 17, 2016 in Charleston, South Carolina. 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