Fresh off of the New Hampshire primaryBernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton meet tonight in Milwaukee for their second head-to-head debate (the sixth overall). After narrowly losing the Iowa caucus, Sanders, as predicted, ran away with the much-needed win in New Hampshire besting Clinton by over 20 percent.
The last debate saw fiery performances from both candidates after questioning over what made Clinton a “progressive” blew into a full-fledged Twitter spat that carried on into a town hall, and eventually, the debate, where Clinton described the call out from Sanders’ campaign as an “artful smear.”
Sanders and Clinton meet again tonight to debate before the Nevada and South Carolina primaries.
Clinton takes her first swing at Sanders saying he his proposed plans would increase the size of the federal government by 40 percent saying Sanders can’t keep what he’s promising. “This is not about math, this about people’s lives,” says Clinton.
Sanders responds that he in fact does not want to “dismantle” the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” which Clinton points out as she has before that it was once called Hillarycare. Sanders says Clinton is absolutely wrong and that he will continue to fight for healthcare because he believes it, “…is a right of all people and not a privilege.”
Clinton questions Sanders’ plans once again, this time about funding public education. Says it would hinge on governors like Wisconsin’s Scott Walker to invest $23 billion in higher education. Sanders disputes it says, “I do believe we should have free tuition.”
Moderators mention 55 percent of women voted for Sanders in New Hampshire and Clinton why she doesn’t think she’s not resonating with women. Clinton says she’s okay with it and that she wants to empower men and women and progress. She notes how in over 200 debates this is the most amount of women there’s been on stage. (Three, including Clinton, as both moderators are women.)
Sanders notes how he has a record for supporting women’s rights, citing the wage gap and how it time to make paid family leave a reality. When asked if he’s worried about stopping Clinton from making history as the first woman president he says, “a Sanders victory would be of some historical accomplishment as well”
Sanders and Clinton are asked: “What can we do to lower the African American men incarceration rate?” Sanders says, “We can no longer continue to sweep it under the rug” citing a statistic that 1 in 4 African American children will end up in jail. Sanders addresses police brutality adding, “Any police officer who breaks the law will be held accountable.”
Clinton notes a victim of police brutality, Dontre Hamilton. She calls for the restoration of “policing that will protect communities” but adds that to address this problem “jobs, education, housing” in relation to African Americans also need to be fixed the incarceration rate.
Sanders is asked whether an undocumented family should fear deportation under his presidency. Sanders says “No,” saying he refuses to deport 11 million people calling for immigration reform because we should, “…bring families together, not divide them.”
Clinton calls out Sanders for not supporting a 2007 immigration reform. Sanders admits he he didn’t support it, explaining prominent Latino groups compared the “guest worker” programs to “slavery.” He also pointed out that Clinton didn't think children escaping violence from Honduras and other places in Central America instead of "welcoming" them to the country. Sanders' campaign tweeted:
The issue of social security is raised and both candidates agree the elderly are struggling to live, with Sanders noting elderly are receiving approximately 11,000 a year. Sanders wants to expand social security and the life of social security for the elderly, but also for disabled veterans.
Citing that Clinton has received $10 million in donations from just two donors is asked if campaign contributors will have an affect on her administration. Clinton says she’s receiving plenty of “small donations” but even if she’s getting large donations Clinton notes Obama was a recipient of the largest wall street donation with $15 million but that he still fought Wall Street and she will do the same. Sanders counters:
Clinton takes on racism and Trump's proposed plans:
Clinton drags Sanders for previously critiquing president Barack Obama and for calling him a “disappointment.” "The kind of criticism I hear from Sanders I expect from Republicans I do not expect it from someone seeking the Dem. nomination," says Clinton. Sanders responds calling that a "low blow" and admits he has disagreed with Obama, but calls him a friend. Sanders points out that's campaigned for Obama during both presidential terms. Sanders further fought back in his closing statement: “One of us ran against Barack Obama. I was not that candidate."
In her closing statement Clinton takes a parting blow at Sanders:
