--- title: Democratic Debate: Bernie Sanders Heated Moment description: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders got testy with front-runner Hillary Clinton at Thursday's Democratic debate. canonical: https://time.com/4249193/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-excuse-me-talking/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-07T03:41:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:39:53.305Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Most Heated Moment at the Democratic Debate og:description: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders got testy. og:url: https://time.com/4249193/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-excuse-me-talking/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c6b303085ae5801/698880710b72e340916e86e8/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-flint-michigan-clash-democratic-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Most Heated Moment at the Democratic Debate twitter:description: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders got testy. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c6b303085ae5801/698880710b72e340916e86e8/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-flint-michigan-clash-democratic-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Most Heated Moment at the Democratic Debate by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Mar 7, 2016 3:41 AM UTC  Hillary Clinton argues a point as Bernie Sanders reacts during a Democratic presidential primary debate at the University of Michigan-Flint in Flint, Mich. on March 6, 2016. Hillary Clinton argues a point as Bernie Sanders reacts during a Democratic presidential primary debate at the University of Michigan-Flint in Flint, Mich. on March 6, 2016.Carlos Osorio—AP by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Mar 7, 2016 3:41 AM UTC Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders got testy with front-runner Hillary Clinton at Thursday’s Democratic debate during an exchange trade policies and the 2009 auto industry bailout when Clinton attempted to interrupt him. “Excuse me, I’m talking,” he fired back at Clinton, in a moment that was the second-most discussed on Twitter of the debate. As the presidential primary has gone on, debates between Sanders and Clinton have gotten increasingly prickly, with the Vermont Senator often casting side-eye or waving his hands at her remarks—moments that some Clinton supporters saw as derogatory or even sexist, while others thought just showed poor manners. > [](https://twitter.com/1978BABY/status/706661969479086080) > [](https://twitter.com/speechboy71/status/706652650243280896) > [](https://twitter.com/Dawn%5FRitchie/status/706673744564129794) This response wasn’t the only time during the night when Sanders raised his voice to Clinton after an interruption—he shouted “Can I finish, please?” during a later exchange between the two on gun control. 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