Though they barely mentioned immigration reform in the Democratic debate, Hilary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont tackled a series of hot-button issues, including gun control, the Flint water crisis, Wall St. bailouts, religion and, of course, Donald Trump.
While the two-hour contest, which was hosted by CNN and held in Flint, Michigan, featured an often sharp contrast over policy, both candidates were in accord when it came to opinions on the GOP and its billionaire frontrunner.
“I think Donald Trump’s bigotry, his bullying, his bluster, are not going to wear well on the American people,” said Clinton. “We have to end the divisiveness; we have to unify the country.”
Sanders said, “We are, if elected president, going to invest a lot of money in mental health.” He then quipped, “And when you watch these Republican debates, you know why we need to invest in mental health.”
Though providing a stark contrast to the often raucous Republican debates, the Democratic contest did have a few heated moments of its own, highlighted by Sanders’ testy “Excuse me, I’m talking” line, delivered in an attempt to get Clinton to stop interrupting him during a contentious exchange on trade agreements.
While intense, the latest Democratic debate appeared to do little to impact Clinton’s status as the presumptive nominee. Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin wrote that Sanders “lacked a strategy to score a definitive win and was for some too tetchy with his opponent on several occasions. Many good tactical moments on core issues but built no mosaic of contrast to knock down the front-runner.”
