Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders share a jovial hug on the Democratic debate stage

(Image credit: Screenshot/CNN)

last updated 16 October 2019

Presidential debates can be tense, to say the least, especially during primaries when friends can wind up pitted against each other. So there's always room for moments of levity. And during Tuesday night's Democratic primary debate in Westerville, Ohio, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden — who are generally of different persuasions on a number of issues — delivered a brief but delightful moment on stage.

Biden was railing against President Trump's foreign policy, particularly the trust he places in Russian President Vladimir Putin when, while gesticulating, he pointed toward Sanders as he said Putin's name. Sanders' wit kicked in, as he joked that Biden was suggesting he was Putin, leading to a good chuckle from the audience while the two candidates hugged it out. Tim O'Donnell

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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