Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders made a point of calling out Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder at the Democratic presidential debate Sunday night over his handling of the tainted water crisis plaguing Flint, Michigan.
President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Flint on Saturday, and the attorney general there has pledged to investigate. Sanders had already called on Snyder, a Republican, to step down, but Clinton used the opportunity of her closing statement at the debate to argue that if the crisis had happened in a rich Detroit suburb, Snyder would have been quicker to act.
Clinton said she sent a top campaign aid to meet with the mayor of Flint and said she had gone on a TV show to call for action.
“I think every single American should be outraged,” Clinton said. “We’ve had a city in the United States of America where the population, which is poor in many ways and majority African-American, has been drinking and bathing in lead-contaminated water. And the governor of that state acted as though he didn’t really care.”
Sanders repeated his call for Snyder to resign.
“Secretary Clinton was right and what I did, which I think is also right, is demanded the resignation of the governor. A man who acts that irresponsibly should not stay in power,” Sanders said.
Snyder responded quickly with a series of tweets, including one which read, “Political statements and finger pointing from political candidates only distract from solving the Flint water crisis.”
