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Home > CNN Debates > Bernie Sanders - Democratic Town Hall, Ohio


	Podcast:		CNN Debates
	Episode:		Bernie Sanders - Democratic Town Hall, Ohio
	Category:		News & Politics
	Duration:		00:49:35
	Publish Date:		2016-03-13 20:32:26
	Description:		Bernie Sanders on Sunday slammed Donald Trump as a "pathological liar" who is "inciting violence" as Sanders kicked off a town hall duel with Hillary Clinton. "I hesitate to say this because I really don't like to disparage public officials, but Donald Trump is a pathological liar," Sanders said, in the first exchange of the event at Ohio State University hosted by CNN and TV One. Sanders also blasted Trump for saying that he might pay the legal fees of a man charged with punching a protester at one of his rallies, adding that doing so was tantamount to "inciting violence." "I would hope Mr. Trump tones it down big time and tells his supporters that violence is not acceptable in the American political process," Sanders said. Sanders and Clinton are making closing arguments to voters in their increasingly contentious Democratic nominating marathon, two days before five states vote in crucial primaries that could set the tone for the rest of the contest. They are facing questions from Buckeye State voters as they vie for the support of blue collar and minority voters who underpin the Democratic coalition. Sanders took the first turn in the spotlight and will be followed by Clinton in the event moderated by CNN's Jake Tapper and TV One's Roland Martin. The event takes place in the wake of Sanders' surprise victory in the Michigan primary last week, which raised his hopes of competing with Clinton across Midwestern Rust Belt states. It also comes at the end of a weekend filled with violence and disruption of Trump rallies, in which the real estate mogul pointed the finger at Sanders for the unruliness. But Sanders said Sunday night, "Our campaign does not believe and never will encourage anybody to disrupt anything." Trump accuses Sanders supporters of disrupting his rallies He added that people have the right to protest even though he said other candidates' rallies shouldn't be disrupted. "Trump has to get on the TV and tell his supporters that violence in the political process in America is not acceptable, end of discussion," he said. At the same time, Sanders dismissed the idea that he was responsible for the actions of all his supporters. "Millions of people voted for me. If I have to take responsibility for everybody who voted for me, it would be a very difficult life," Sanders said The town hall was also an opportunity for the two Democratic candidates to highlight their differences even if they didn't meet face to face. Sanders pivoted to his Democratic opponent on the issue of trade, which is emerging as a key theme on both sides of the aisle in the 2016 presidential race. He lashed out at "corporately written trade agreements," which he said were designed to shut down U.S factories and pay people "pennies an hour" in China and Mexico. "One of the very strong differences between Secretary Clinton and myself -- she has supported almost all of those trade agreements, I have vigorously opposed (them)," he charged. At one point while talking about trade though, Sanders slipped in another backhanded slap at Trump. Defending his position on trade, Sanders said that he did not want to cut off the United States from global trade flows. "Nobody is talking about building a wall around the United States," Sanders said, before trailing off when people in the audience started chuckling. "Oh, I beg your pardon, there is one guy who is talking about building a wall. Let me rephrase it: no rational person is talking about building a wall." But Clinton has so far built a more diverse constituency resting especially on African-American voters and Hispanics and appears to have the edge going into Tuesday's primaries in Ohio, Florida, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina. Still, Sanders has high hopes of good results in the Midwest in particular and has been driving his message that the economy is stacked against working Americans and underpinned by a corrupt political system.
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