Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders came together on Sunday night for a special CNN Democratic primary debate in Flint, Michigan, site of a public health crisis caused by toxic tap water.
The Democratic primary candidates jabbed at one another over the economy and free trade, but not before leveling harsh charges at the state’s Republican leadership — and the GOP presidential field.
Here are a few of the most memorable lines. (For the blow-by-blow, check out the CNN live blog.)
Sanders on the water crisis: “What I heard and what I saw literally shattered me.”
Sanders on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder: “The governor of this state should understand that his dereliction of duty was irresponsible. He should resign.”
Clinton ups the ante after echoing Sanders’ call for Snyder to resign: “But that is not enough, we must focus on what should be done for people of Flint. It is raining lead in Flint and the state is derelict in not coming forward with the money that is required.”
Sanders on water prices in Flint: “You are playing three times more for poison water than I am paying in Burlington, Vermont, for clean water.”
Clinton on punishing those responsible: “People should be held accountable wherever that leads. … There has to be an absolute accountability and I will support whatever the outcome of those investigations are.”
Sanders to Clinton while defending his record: “Excuse me, I’m talking.”
Clinton on other cities with water issues: “We have a lot of communities right now in our country where the levels of toxins in the water, including lead, are way above what anybody should tolerate. We have a higher rate of tested lead in people in Cleveland than in Flint. So I’m not satisfied with just doing everything we must do for Flint, I want to tackle this problem across the board.”
Sanders on Clinton’s comments about bringing jobs home in light of her past support for free trade: “I am very glad that Secretary Clinton has discovered religion on this issue.”
Clinton on gun control: “I know some of the parents from Sandy Hook. I want people in this audience to think about what it must feel like to send off your first-grader, little backpack maybe on his or her back, and then the next thing you hear is that somebody has come to that school using an automatic weapon, an AR-15, and murdered those children.”
Clinton on whether she has a racial blind spot: “Being a white person in the United States of America, I know that I’ve never had the experience that so many of the people in this audience have had.”
Sanders on an experience that helped him understand other cultures: “Most candidates don’t put this on their resume, but I was arrested for trying to desegregate the Chicago school system.”
Clinton on her use in the 1990s of the term “super predators” to describe some young kids: “I think it was a poor choice of words I never used it before, I haven’t used it since, I would not use it again.”
Sanders mocks the wild GOP debate fights: “When you watch these Republican debates, you know why we have to invest in mental health!”
Sanders searching for a word to describe Clinton’s super PAC backing: “I hate to say the word ‘huge.'”
Clinton on facing off the with Republican front-runner: “I think that Donald Trump’s bigotry, his bullying, his bluster are not going to wear well on the American people. I will look forward to engaging him.”
Sanders on his faith: “I am very proud of being Jewish and that is an essential part of who I am as a human being.”
