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After Debate, Warren Told Sanders: 'I Think You Called Me A Liar'

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren called out Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., after Tuesday's debate.
Patrick Semansky
/
AP
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren called out Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., after Tuesday's debate.

Updated at 12:24 p.m. ET Thursday

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders shared a tense moment after Tuesday night's Democratic debate. Warren appeared to shun Sanders' attempt to shake her hand, and they exchanged words that were inaudible on the broadcast. Then, Sanders turned and walked away.

Now CNN, an organizer of the debate, has released the audio from their microphones.

"I think you called me a liar on national TV," Warren says to Sanders in the recorded audio.

During the televised portion of the debate, Sanders denied Warren's claim he had said he didn't believe a woman could win the presidential election.

"What?" Sanders replies.

"I think you called me a liar on national TV," Warren repeats.

Sanders replies, "You know, let's not do it right now. If you want to have that discussion, we'll have that discussion."

"Anytime," Warren replied. Sanders started to say, "You called me a ..." and then turned and walked away from her.

During the debate, the two candidates addressed a report that during a private meeting at Warren's house, Sanders said he did not believe a woman could win the presidential election.

Sanders flatly denied the claim. "I didn't say it. How could anybody in a million years think that a woman couldn't be president?" he said. Warren insisted Sanders had made the statement.

Warren maintained that Sanders had made that statement, but added, "I'm not here to fight with Bernie."

On Thursday, six national progressive organizations — including groups that back Sanders and others that support Warren — released a joint statement, saying in part: "Sanders and Warren, as well as their campaigns and supporters, will need to find ways to cooperate. The crossfire amplified by the media is unhelpful and does not reflect the relationship between two Senate colleagues who broadly worked well together for most of the last year."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Amita Kelly is a Washington editor, where she works across beats and platforms to edit election, politics and policy news and features stories.
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