It was the moment most people watching Tuesday night's Democratic debate had been waiting for: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was asked about comments he made during a private meeting he had with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in 2018.
CNN reported, and Warren later confirmed, that during their conversation, Sanders said he did not believe a woman could win the presidential election. "I didn't say it," Sanders responded. Warren shot Sanders a look, as he continued on. "I don't want to waste a whole lot of time on this," Sanders said. "This is what Donald Trump and maybe some of the media want. Anyone who knows me knows that it's incomprehensible that I would think that a woman could not be president of the United States."
Sanders said there are videos on YouTube showing him 30 years ago saying a woman could be president. "Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by three million votes, how could anybody in a million years not believe that a woman could become president of the United States?" he said. Warren responded that she "disagreed" with Sanders, but he is "my friend and I'm not here 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."
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She then pounced, not just on Sanders, but on every male candidate on the stage — former Vice President Joe Biden, billionaire Tom Steyer, and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. "I think the best way to talk about who can win is by looking at a person's winning record," she said. "So can a woman beat Donald Trump? Look at the men on this stage. Collectively they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election they've been in are the women, [Sen.] Amy [Klobuchar] and me." This was met by cheers from the audience. Catherine Garcia
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