Warren to Sanders: ‘I think you called me a liar on national TV’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) accused Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) of calling her a liar during Tuesday night’s debate in a tense conversation between the two caught on camera, CNN reported Wednesday.

CNN conducted an inventory of its audio equipment and found recordings of the conversation between the two progressive candidates that occurred immediately following the debate, hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register. The release of the audio came after a day of speculation about what was said.

“I think you called me a liar on national TV,” Warren said to Sanders, to which Sanders responded, “What?”

Warren then repeated what she’d said.

“You know, let’s not do it right now. If you want to have that discussion, we’ll have that discussion,” Sanders said, to which Warren replied, “Anytime.”

“You called me a liar,” Sanders added. “You told me — all right, let’s not do it now.”

Elizabeth Warren accused Bernie Sanders of calling her a liar on stage after Tuesday’s debate. Here’s the tense moment. https://t.co/cL3ppFmtxw pic.twitter.com/F5wFMmy8FX

— CNN (@CNN) January 16, 2020

Many Twitter users commented on the exchange, which aired without audio, noting that the two didn’t end up shaking hands.

“This is not warm and cuddly.”

CNN’s @DavidAxelrod reacts to a seemingly chilly interaction between Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders just moments after the conclusion of the #DemDebate. https://t.co/E1MSK5ItS7 pic.twitter.com/4XQZHbHLj9

— CNN (@CNN) January 15, 2020

Fellow candidate Tom Steyer appeared caught in the middle of the conversation as he waited to shake hands with the other candidates. He later told MSNBC that he did not hear what the candidates were saying. 

“Whatever they were going on between each other, I was trying to get out of the way as fast as possible,” he said.

The Hill reached out to Warren’s and Sanders’s campaigns for comment. Both declined to comment to CNN.

The conversation followed a burgeoning feud between the senators. Warren has accused Sanders of telling her a woman could not win the presidency when they met in 2018 and doubled down on the claim during the debate. The Vermont senator has repeatedly and vigorously denied Warren’s account of the conversation, including on the debate stage Tuesday night.