'I think you called me a liar on national TV': Elizabeth Warren's rebuke to Bernie Sanders at the end of the Democrat debate is revealed in hot mic audio after she refused to shake his hand
Hot mic audio has been released revealing Senator Elizabeth Warren's harsh rebuke to Senator Bernie Sander's after the first Democratic presidential primary debate of the year.
'I think you called me a liar on national TV,' Warren is heard saying, apparently referring to Sanders denial of her claim that he warned her in 2018 that no woman could beat Donald Trump.
'What?' Sanders is heard replying. Warren repeats: 'I think you called me a liar on national TV.'
As billionaire Tom Steyer awkwardly tries to disentangle himself from the confrontation, Sanders blasts back: 'You know, let's not do it right now...'
Elizabeth Warren refused to shake Bernie Sanders hand at the end of debate. Now audio has been released showing Warren accused Sanders of calling her a liar
'What?' Sanders is heard replying. Warren repeats: 'I think you called me a liar on national TV'
The confrontation had become the most hotly discussed moment of Tuesday's debate, after Warren apparently refused to shake Sanders' hand in a visibly testy exchange.
On Wednesday night, debate host CNN aired the audio as an 'exclusive scoop' on Anderson Cooper 360.
After the moment became the subject of speculation, CNN spent the entire day digging through audio files from various microphones at the event to come up with audio of the exchange.
Warren's confrontation with Sanders — as the rest of the Democratic field shook hands and smiled — followed sparring in the debate over reports that Sanders told Warren in a private 2018 meeting that a female candidate couldn't beat Trump.
As billionaire Tom Steyer (center) awkwardly tries to disentangle himself from the confrontation, Sanders blasts back: 'You know, let's not do it right now...'
The tense exchange sparked tremendous speculation about what they were saying
Warren confirmed the remark, while Sanders denied that he'd never told Warren a woman can't win.
'As a matter of fact, I didn't say that. And I don't want to waste a lot of time on this because this is what Donald Trump, maybe some of the media would want. Anybody who knows me knows it is incomprehensible that I would think that a woman could not be president of the United States,' the Vermont senator said in the debate.
'Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by three million votes. How could anybody in a million years think a woman could become president of the United States? And let me be very clear, if any of the women on this stage, or any of the men on this stage, win the nomination - I hope that's not the case, I hope it's me - but if they do, I will do everything in my power to ensure they are elected in order to defeat the most president in the history of our country,' he added to applause from the audience.
CNN's Abby Phillips, one of the debate moderators, asked again: 'Senator Sanders, I do want to be clear here, you're saying that you never told senator Warren that a woman could not win the election?'
'That is correct,' he responded.
But Phillip then turned to Warren and asked: 'Senator Warren, what did you think when Senator Sanders told you a woman could not win the election?'
The audience laughed at the question.
Sanders and Warren sparred several times during the Tuesday debate in Des Moines, Iowa
'I disagreed,' Warren replied. 'Bernie is my friend, and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie. But, look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and it's time for us to attack it head-on.'
She then went on to attack the record of the men on stage – Sanders, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and Tom Steyer – while praising her and Amy Klobuchar's record as political candidates.
'The best way to talk about who can win is by looking at people's winning record. So, can a woman beat Donald Trump? Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost ten elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they've been in are the women. Amy and me,' she said.
'So true,' Klobuchar chimed in.
Warren continued: 'And the only person on this stage who has beaten an incumbent Republican anytime in the past 30 years is me. And here's what I know. The real danger that we face as Democrats is picking a candidate who can't pull our party together or someone who takes for granted big parts of the democratic constituency. We need a candidate who will excite all parts of the Democratic Party, bring everyone in, and give everyone a Democrat to believe in. That's my plan and that is why I'm going to win.'
