On the cusp of another round of crucial nominating contests, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton took questions on Sunday night from voters in Ohio at a live CNN town hall event hosted by CNN and TV One.
CNN’s Jake Tapper and TV One’s Roland Martin moderated, as the candidates made their case ahead of Tuesday primaries in Florida, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri.
Here are a few of the most memorable lines. (For the blow-by-blow, check out the CNN live blog.)
Hillary Clinton
Offering her assessment of Donald Trump’s campaign: “It is clear that Donald Trump is running a very cynical campaign pitting groups of Americans against one another. He is trafficking in hate and fear. He actually incites violence in the way he urges his audience on, talking about punching people, offering to pay legal bills.”
On Trump’s responsibility for recent violence at his rallies: “What Trump has done is like a case of political arson.”
On when she supported the death penalty: “…in cases where there has been horrific mass killings, that’s really the exception that I still am struggling with and that would only be in the federal system.”
On what she’s hearing from people around the world about Trump: “I’m having foreign leaders ask if they can endorse me to stop Donald Trump.”
On when to use force in global conflict: “I don’t think it’s an either-or kind of question. I believe we have to use every tool at our disposal, our diplomacy, our development and our strong cultural influence around the world as well as our defense.”
On fracking: “I’m going to do everything I can to try to regulate it and limit it. No president can stand up before you and say they’re going to ban it. … I don’t want to make a promise I can’t keep.”
On clean energy — a line we might hear again in the fall: “We are going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.”
Bernie Sanders
On Trump: “I hate to say this, because I hate to disparage public officials, but Donald Trump is a pathological liar.”
On Trump’s suggestion he would pay the legal fees for a man who sucker-punched a protester at a rally: “Donald Trump is literally inciting violence with his supporters. He’s saying, ‘If you go out and beat somebody up, that’s OK, I’ll pay the legal fees.’ That’s an outrage and I hope Mr. Trump tones it down big time.”
On concerns voiced by, among others, Marco Rubio that someone could be killed at a Trump rally: “Sen. Rubio has a legitimate concern.”
On how he would handle the use of lethal force by police: “My Department of Justice will investigate every killing of an American held in police custody or killed while being apprehended — an automatic Department of Justice investigation.”
On one way he would pay for tuition-free college at public institutions: “I believe we should impose a tax on Wall Street speculation. If we could bail out Wall Street, now it’s Wall Street’s time to help the middle class of this country.”
On a lack of investment in low income communities: “What is going on in areas in Columbus, in areas all over this country, is a national disgrace.”
On free trade and Trump: “Nobody is talking about building a wall around the United States. Of course we value trade — Oh, I beg your pardon, there is one guy who is talking about building a wall. Let me rephrase it, no rational person is talking about building a wall.”
Revealing his best cross-aisle friend, Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe: “Jim is a climate change denier and he is really, really conservative. But you know what, he is a decent guy and I like him, and he and I are friends.”
