Warren to Sanders Post-Debate: ‘I Think You Called Me a Liar on National TV’

Tobias Hoonhout

CNN released a hot-mic recording Wednesday of a post-debate exchange between Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, in which Warren accuses her opponent of calling her “a liar on national TV.”

“You know, let’s not do it right now. If you want to have that discussion, we’ll have that discussion,” Sanders responds, to which Warren replies, “Anytime.”

“You called me a liar,” Sanders continued. “You told me — all right, let’s not do it now.”

The day before Tuesday’s Democratic debate, Warren released a statement describing a private conversation she had with Sanders in 2018, in which the two allegedly discussed the chances of a female Democratic candidate defeating Donald Trump in 2020.

“I thought a woman could win; he disagreed,” Warren said. Sanders denied the characterization of the conversation, claiming it was “ludicrous” to think he did not believe a woman could win, an assessment with which fellow presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard later agreed.

“We had a nice one-on-one conversation and I informed him that I would be running for President. In that meeting, he showed me the greatest respect and encouragement, just as he always has,” Gabbard tweeted.

During the debate, Sanders was asked by CNN moderator Abby Phillip to unequivocally deny Warren’s allegation, before Phillip turned to Warren.

“Sen. Warren, what did you think when Sen. Sanders told you a woman could not win the election?” Phillip asked Warren.

Bernie’s campaign announced Wednesday that, following Warren’s accusation and the debate, the campaign raised nearly $4 million from over 200,000 contributions, including more than 25,000 new donors.

“If that’s not momentum, then I don’t know what momentum is,” Sanders said in a video announcing the numbers.

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