--- title: Democratic Debate: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders Clash description: The pair quickly clashed on criminal-justice reform and health care canonical: https://time.com/4217603/democratic-debate-milwaukee-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-pbs-newshour/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-11T18:37:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T18:31:39.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton Clash in Milwaukee og:description: It will be sharper, tenser and more combative. og:url: https://time.com/4217603/democratic-debate-milwaukee-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-pbs-newshour/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00b5153da9e6c3b5/69887d65bc6cfc4dc23dbb49/timepol-democrat-debate-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton Clash in Milwaukee twitter:description: It will be sharper, tenser and more combative. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00b5153da9e6c3b5/69887d65bc6cfc4dc23dbb49/timepol-democrat-debate-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton Clash in Milwaukee > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=1ffcec85-7b6c-4373-a867-acc1d6aa227f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch the Democratic Debate in Under 4 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): Watch the Democratic Debate in Under 4 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/T29Nf2PQ.m3u8) (3:41)  _Published 2016-02-12. Watch the Democratic Debate in Under 4 Minutes_ by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:31 PM UTCPublished: Feb 11, 2016 6:37 PM UTC by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:31 PM UTCPublished: Feb 11, 2016 6:37 PM UTC Two days after a [landslide defeat](http://time.com/4215117/new-hampshire-primary-results-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-fight/) in New Hampshire, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought to corner Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on a debate stage on details for his expansive government programs, questioning how her opponent plans to pay for and accomplish single-payer health care and free college tuition. “We should level with the American people to make sure they get affordable health care … every progressive economist that has analyzed this said the numbers don’t add up,” Clinton said. “We should not make promises we can’t keep that will further alienate Americans from believing that we can together make some real changes in peoples lives.” “The last thing we need is to throw our country into a contentious debate about health care again,” she continued. “We are not England we are not Sweden.” The two met for a debate in Milwaukee on Thursday night, and early on, the two clashed on health care, called for criminal-justice reform and pay equity for women. With the race tenser and closer than either Democratic candidate had imagined, Thursday night’s debate was sharper, tenser and more combative than previous debates, and both candidates are expecting an [increasingly acrimonious campaign](http://time.com/4213441/new-hampshire-primary-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/). “They’re throwing everything at me except the kitchen sink, and I have a feeling that kitchen sink is coming pretty soon too,” Sanders told a crowd on the night of his victory in New Hampshire. It is the second one-on-one debate between the two Democratic candidates for President. So far from the contests in New Hampshire and Iowa, Sanders has won more delegates than Clinton by a margin of 36 to 32. Criminal-justice reform became a major issue early on in the debate, with Sanders and Clinton both calling for an overhaul. “We are sick and tired of seeing videos on television of unarmed people, often African American, being shot and killed by police,” Sanders said. The next two primary contests in Nevada and South Carolina, both have large populations of Latinos and blacks, two groups among whom Clinton tends to poll much better than Sanders. Sanders, meanwhile, will seek to test Clinton’s ability to perform well among minorities. **Read More:** [_How the Democratic Debate Moderators Will Make History_](http://time.com/4217249/democratic-debate-women-moderators-gwen-ifill-judy-woodruff/) Sanders has criticized Clinton for taking [Wall Street donations](http://time.com/4212575/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-wall-street-donations/) and giving paid speeches to financial institutions. In the previous debate last week in Durham, N.H., Clinton accused Sanders of making an “artful smear” against her, and challenged him to point to a case in which she was influenced by her donations. Sanders did not. If Sanders does criticize her more personally on Thursday night, it would reflect a significant turn in the tone of the race. Clinton questioned Sanders’ [foreign policy](http://time.com/4211070/benghazi-attack-haunts-hillary-clinton-in-new-hampshire/) experience in the previous debate, and her allies have pointed to a mistake Sanders made last week when he said North Korea “is such an isolated country run by a handful of dictators, or maybe just one.” (North Korea has only one dictator.) Sanders had pointed to his vote against the Iraq War. The two are preparing for a long nomination fight, with Sanders amassing huge funding from a robust online fundraising operation. The Vermont Senator raised more than $6 million in the 24 hours after the New Hampshire polls closed. ## Transcript The American people are tired of establishment politics. Tired of establishment economics, they want a political revolution. We need a government that represents all of us, not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors. Especially with healthcare This is not about math, this is about people's lives. Healthcare is a right of all people. Not a privilege and I will fight for that. The numbers don't add up and many people will actually be worst off than they are right now. One final thought Senator. My thought is absolutely inaccurate. Look, here is the reality folks We have the courage to take on the drug companies and have the courage to take on the insurance companies and the medical equipment suppliers. If we do that, yes, we can guarantee health care to all people in a much more cost effective way. My price tag is about $ 100 billion. A year. Once I'm in the White House we will have enough political capital to be able to do that. Secretary Clinton, you are not in the White House yet. I will do away with the outrageous loopholes that have allowed profitable multi- national corporations to stash billions of dollars in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. We bailed them out, now it is their time to help the middle class. Let's not in any way imply here that either President Obama or myself would in any way not take on any vested interested, whether it's Wall Street or drug companies or insurance companies or frankly the gun lobby to stand up to do what's best for the American people. Let's not insult the intelligence Of the American people? People aren't dumb. Why in God's name does Wall Street make huge campaign contributions? I guess just for the fun of it, they wanna throw money around. You know I am not asking people to support me because I'm a woman, I'm asking people to support me because I think I'm the most qualified experienced and ready person to be the President and the Commander in Chief. We will end the absurdity of women today making $ 0. 79 cents on the dollar compared to men. As President, I will look very carefully about unintended consequences. I will do everything I can. To make certain the United States and our brave men and women in the military do not get bogged down in perpetual warfare in the middle east. Senator Obama, when he ran against me, was against the war in Iraq. And yet when he won, he turned to me, trusting my judgement, my experience, to become secretary of state. Secretary of state for four years? You've got a bit of experience. I would imagine. But judgement matters as well. I know journalists have asked who you do listen to on foreign policy and we have yet to know who that is. Well it ain't Henry Kissinger, that's for sure. That's fine. Let's support. Port. What Secretary Kerry and the President are doing, but let's hope, that we can accelerate the cease fire. Because I fear that the Russians will continue their bombing, try to do everything they can do destroy what's left of the opposition. And remember, the. Russians have not gone after ISIS or any of the other terrorist groups. It's easy to talk to your friends. It's harder to talk to your enemies. I think we should do both. So we do as the United States have to support our friends, our allies in Europe. We have to stand with them. I very strongly disagree. Were those Republicans candidates who say you know what, we've gotta turn our backs. 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