--- description: The Democratic debate in Flint began in agreement as both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders called on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to resign. title: Clinton and Sanders: Michigan Governor Should Resign image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49ea3d887b0baa1f/6988806e2dce01e0de9e8118/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-flint-michigan-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Clinton and Sanders Call on Michigan Governor to Resign  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 7, 2016 1:44 AM CUT  Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders speak at the same time during the Democratic U.S. presidential candidates' debate in Flint, MI on March 6, 2016. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders speak at the same time during the Democratic U.S. presidential candidates' debate in Flint, MI on March 6, 2016.Jim Young—Reuters  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 7, 2016 1:44 AM CUT Sunday’s [Democratic debate in Flint](http://time.com/4248784/clinton-sanders-flint-debate/ "undefined") began in agreement as both [Hillary Clinton ](http://time.com/4248428/hillary-clinton-michigan-populist/ "undefined")and [Bernie Sanders](http://time.com/4244244/bernie-sanders-super-tuesday-speech-transcript-full-text/ "undefined") called on Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to resign over his role in the [city’s water crisis](http://time.com/4188328/the-poisoning-of-an-american-city/ "undefined"). “The governor of this state should understand his dereliction of duty was irresponsible. He should resign,” Vermont Sen. Sanders said, a call he has made before. Then former Secretary of State Clinton agreed, the first time that she has said Snyder should resign over the lead in Flint’s water. “The governor should resign or be recalled, and we should support the efforts of citizens to achieve that,” she said. Snyder took to Twitter during the debate to defend himself: > [](https://twitter.com/onetoughnerd/status/706646480648536065) > [](https://twitter.com/onetoughnerd/status/706647092035452928) > [](https://twitter.com/onetoughnerd/status/706647792417165313) Sanders connected the water crisis back to his favorite topic on the stump: income inequality. “We need to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure,” he said. “Our water systems, our waste water plants, our roads and our bridges. The wealthiest country in the history of the world has got to get its priorities right, take care of the people, no more tax breaks for billionaires.” Clinton also said she would support consequences for public officials, and that she would launch an investigation into who knew about the water contamination, and when. “People should be held accountable, wherever that leads,” she said. Both candidates were met with loud cheers from the Flint audience. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4249129/democratic-debate-flint-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4249129/democratic-debate-flint-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/"},"headline":"Clinton and Sanders Call on Michigan Governor to Resign","datePublished":"2016-03-07T01:44:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:39:44.737Z","description":"The candidates agreed that the governor should leave office over the Flint water crisis","url":"https://time.com/4249129/democratic-debate-flint-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic","Michigan","Bernie Sanders","Flint"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49ea3d887b0baa1f/6988806e2dce01e0de9e8118/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-flint-michigan-debate.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/blt49ea3d887b0baa1f/6988806e2dce01e0de9e8118/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-flint-michigan-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Democratic U.S. presidential candidates Clinton and Sanders speak at the same time during the Democratic U.S. presidential candidates' debate in Flint","caption":"Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders speak at the same time during the Democratic U.S. presidential candidates' debate in Flint, MI on March 6, 2016.","creditText":"Jim Young—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4249129/democratic-debate-flint-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/","name":"Clinton and Sanders Call on Michigan Governor to Resign"}}]}] ```