Last night, Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton faced off at a PBS-hosted debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was the first Democratic debate since Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ decisive victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. At the debate, Bernie Sanders drew a sharp distinction between himself and the former secretary of state on issues of foreign policy by highlighting Clinton’s close relationship with another former secretary of state, Henry Kissinger.
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “Where the secretary and I have a very profound difference, in the last debate and, I believe, in her book—very good book, by the way—in her book and in this last debate, she talked about getting the approval or the support or the mentoring of Henry Kissinger. Now, I find it rather amazing, because I happen to believe that Henry Kissinger was one of the most destructive secretaries of state in the modern history of this country.”
Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, cast herself as the candidate with more experience, and she deflected criticisms of her support for the Iraq War by reminding voters that President Obama picked her to serve as secretary of state.
Hillary Clinton: “As we all remember, Senator Obama, when he ran against me, was against the war in Iraq. And yet, when he won, he turned to me, trusting my judgment, my experience, to become secretary of state. I was very honored to be asked to do that and very honored to serve with him those first four years.”
We’ll have more on the debate after headlines.