Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders blasted each other in the
most heated debate of their campaigns as the two continued to battle
for important New York votes in the upcoming primary. Sanders lashed out
at Clinton's "lack of judgment" while Clinton attacked Sanders' support
for guns and his policies.
Clinton found herself briefly on the ropes again over her paid speeches to big banks and said she would not release the transcripts when pressed by CNN moderators during the debate.
Sanders was also asked to name a single policy decision
Clinton made as senator that showed she was under the thumb of the
banks. He said that when the "greed and recklessness of Wall Street" led
to the financial crisis, he had called on the big banks to be broken up
– while Clinton was "busy giving speeches to Goldman Sachs."
"He cannot come up with any example because there is no example," Clinton fired back.
She in turn criticised Sanders by noting his trouble
explaining some of his core policies in a recent interview with the New
York Daily News when he was unable to clearly describe how he would
break up big banks. "Describing the problem is a lot easier than trying
to solve it," said Clinton.
She also hit out at her political rival for his failure to
release his tax returns so far. Sanders vowed to release his past
returns on 15 April. The crowd in the debate spurred on the raucous
conflict between the two by either cheering loudly or hissing.
Clinton's most powerful punch was against Sanders' weak stance on gun control.
Sanders holds an unusual position on the issue for a liberal politician
because the senator represents the largely rural state of Vermont
including many hunters who generally oppose more gun controls. Clinton
accused Sanders of having made a "commitment to the NRA" to oppose a
waiting period for background checks on gun purchases.
Clinton also brought up a recent request from the daughter
of the Sandy Hook Elementary School principal who was killed during the
Newtown massacre, asking the senator to apologise to the victims for
"putting the gun lobby above our families." Sanders dodged making an
apology.
The back-and-forth exchanges became so intense that at one
point, moderator Wolf Blitzer warned: "If you're both screaming at each
other, the viewers won't be able to hear either of you."
One issue they united over was climate change, which they
both called a worldwide crisis. But they differed on tactics. Sanders
called again for sweeping steps: a tax on carbon-dioxide emissions and
an end to fracking among other measures.
But Clinton said that Sanders' ideas were not politically or
logistically feasible and that trying to implement them would waste
time.
Polls show that Clinton is likely to
defeat Sanders in New York. Even though she has a sizeable delegate
lead over her Democrat rival, it is critical to her campaign that she
wins the state.
Sanders has proven to be a surprisingly resilient candidate
with steadfast support from liberals and younger voters. The New York
primary comes after a string of victories for Sanders in Wyoming,
Wisconsin, Idaho and Utah. If Sanders ekes out a victory in New York, it
would be a serious blow to Clinton.
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