MIAMI Fighting for Florida and beyond, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders tangled in an intense debate Wednesday night over whos the true friend of American Hispanics, trading accusations over guest worker programs akin to slavery and the embracing of vigilantes against immigrants.
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Both candidates were bidding for momentum after Sanders surprised Clinton with an upset victory in MI on Tuesday.
Both candidates said they would not deport any immigrants here illegally except criminals and terrorists – in effect breaking with President Obama, who has been criticized by Latinos for high levels of deportations during his presidency.
On Cuba, Clinton focused on normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba and urged greater respect for human rights by the Castro government, Sanders agreed with encouraging democratic reforms in Cuba and called on ending the embargo.
A group of protesters gathered outside the Trump Building near Wall Street on Wednesday to demand Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton release transcripts of speeches she made to large financial institutions or consider exiting the presidential race.
“This is a marathon and a marathon that can only be carried out by the type of inclusive campaign I’m running”, Clinton said.
“I am not a natural politician, in case you haven’t noticed, like my husband or President Obama”, Clinton said. Ohio’s GOP Gov. John Kasich is popular there, and independent voters may prefer to vote in the Republican primary so they can help him stop Donald Trump.
In the same vein, Sanders accused Clinton of being cozy with Wall Street over her career, calling her vote to save the economy – along with the United States auto industry – from collapse “the bailout of the recklessness, irresponsibility and illegal behavior of Wall Street” .
Sure, Clinton has said she voted numerous times as a senator to build the wall with Mexico.
A few days ago, Wednesday’s debate here appeared as if it might be an anticlimax as Clinton rolled toward the nomination. “In Vermont, by the way, I worked with officials and undocumented people in Vermont do have the ability to get driver’s license”.
“They (immigrants) were cheated, they were abused, they were humiliated, and if they stood up for their rights, they would be thrown out of the country”, said Sanders about the 2007 immigration bill, and noted he voted in favor of the 2013 Senate comprehensive immigration reform bill (S. 744).
“I will do everything I can to prevent other families from facing what you are facing”, Clinton, a former Secretary of State, told the woman.
Sanders, as he has in the past, declined to bite on the issue, saying, “The process will take its course”. “[The 2008 win] led people to think that she was going to be well positioned here for 2016”, Beck said, “But I think, now, there is going to be worries”.
Sanders and Clinton attacked each other’s records on immigration.
MS voters went to the polls Tuesday night as well, and she trounced Sanders by a 66 percentage-point margin.
“The secretary and I mostly agree on this issue”, Sanders said, adding that he hopes Trump does not resort to racism and bigotry on the issue.
Next week will bring contests in Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina. Clinton finally answered, “I will not”, before ending on a slightly ambiguous note: “I do not want to see them deported”, she said of the undocumented. Polls had shown Clinton with a double-digit lead going into the primary.
Yet Clinton was careful to show that she was not taking the nomination for granted, even pushing back against a question about whether she had gotten ahead of herself in assuming she had all but beaten Sanders.
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As for her willingness to step out of the race if she’s indicted on federal charges in regard to those emails, “It’s not going to happen”, she insisted. “I’m not even answering that question”. She said that the explanation she had given to the families was based on what she believed at the time – which was later found to be incomplete and partially incorrect. It took much prodding from the hosts for her to finally say she did not get permission to use a private email server – because it had been done before so she didn’t need permission.
