New audio shows that Elizabeth Warren accused Bernie Sanders of 'calling her a liar on national TV' in a heated post-debate encounter

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New audio shows that Elizabeth Warren accused Bernie Sanders of 'calling her a liar on national TV' in a heated post-debate encounter
Sanders, Warren, Steyer
  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont have been engaged in a rare show of discord after the two disagreed on whether he said a woman couldn't win the presidency.
  • CNN released audio from the tense exchange after the Democratic debate between Warren and Sanders on Tuesday night.
  • Warren confronted Sanders after the two appeared on stage in the seventh Democratic primary debate, accusing him of calling her a "liar on national TV."
  • Sanders replied by saying, "Let's not talk about that now," before throwing the accusation right back at her.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

CNN released audio from the exchange between Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders after the Democratic debate in Iowa on Tuesday night.

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Warren and Sanders are engaged in a rare show of public discord, after Warren confirmed reports that Sanders told her that he didn't believe a woman could win the presidency. The comment was allegedly made during a closed-door meeting in 2018. Sanders has vehemently denied saying the comment.

The argument emerged on Monday, just one day before the two appeared on stage for the seventh Democratic debate, ahead of the Iowa caucuses next month. During the debate, the senator from Vermont continued to deny that he said the comment.

"I think you called me a liar on national TV," Warren said after the debate, according to audio published by CNN.

"You want to have that discussion, we'll have that discussion. Let's not talk about that right now. You called me a liar ... let's not do this right now," Sanders responded before walking away to greet fellow 2020 candidate Tom Steyer.

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During a private meeting in December 2018, Warren said she met with Sanders to discuss the 2020 election and the topic of the possibility of a female Democratic candidate came up.

"I thought a woman could win; he disagreed," Warren said in a statement on Monday. She said she wouldn't say any more because "Bernie and I have far more in common than our differences on punditry."

When the story first broke on CNN, Sanders denied the exchange.

"It is ludicrous to believe that at the same meeting where Elizabeth Warren told me she was going to run for president, I would tell her that a woman couldn't win," he told CNN in a statement. "It's sad that, three weeks before the Iowa caucus and a year after that private conversation, staff who weren't in the room are lying about what happened.

"What I did say that night was that Donald Trump is a sexist, a racist, and a liar who would weaponize whatever he could. Do I believe a woman can win in 2020? Of course! After all, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by 3 million votes in 2016."

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