Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders finally face off

The shadow boxing that Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have played at for months – they’ve barely mentioned each other on the campaign trail – will give way to more direct jabs Tuesday night.

That’s when the two rivals line up on stage at the first Democratic debate of the 2016 campaign, sponsored by CNN and Facebook. The encounter will provide a crucial opportunity for Clinton and Sanders – the leading Democratic contenders – to contrast their personalities, experience and approach to the key issues in the campaign.

Though Clinton and Sanders have rarely mentioned each other’s names, they are clearly reacting to each other and their rival’s potential weaknesses. Sanders took aim at Clinton’s Wall Street record and Iraq vote over the weekend; she put him on the defensive on guns and his poor standing with minority voters.

Until now, they have each had good reason for avoiding full contact with the other. Clinton hasn’t wanted to elevate Sanders and his surprisingly strong poll numbers, while Sanders has wanted to maintain his untraditional, above-the-fray image.

On Tuesday, that calculus will change. And the distinctions they’ve subtly staked out on a range of issues are only likely to grow sharper.

Complete coverage on the #DemDebate

Prepping positions for first debate

In the weeks leading up to the debate in Las Vegas, the two Democrats have been carefully finessing their political positions in relation to each other and their party’s wide coalition, offering clues about how they will spar Tuesday night.

Sanders has been signaling he will try to strike a contrast with Clinton on reining in Wall Street and on her record of support for military interventions overseas. The former secretary of state, meanwhile, is under pressure to prove to progressives who have flocked to Sanders that she genuinely cares about the middle class. She’s expected to highlight her differences with her rival on gun control and to demonstrate the broad support she has among minority voters – a key sector of the Democratic coalition where Sanders is struggling.

As he limbered up for their clash, Sanders threw down the gauntlet on the Iraq War – a thrust that Clinton has struggled to counter in the past – hinting that she has hawkish views that are out of step with the majority of Democratic voters.

His campaign issued a statement reminding voters that he, then a member of the House of Representatives, voted against authorizing the Iraq war in late 2002. At the time he argued that the conflict would destabilize the Middle East, kill large numbers of Americans and Iraqi civilians and hamper the war on terror against al Qaeda.

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Hillary Clinton accepts the Democratic Party's nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 28, 2016. The former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state was the first woman to lead the presidential ticket of a major political party.

PHOTO: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Before marrying Bill Clinton, she was Hillary Rodham. Here she attends Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Her commencement speech at Wellesley's graduation ceremony in 1969 attracted national attention. After graduating, she attended Yale Law School.

PHOTO: Lee Balterman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Rodham was a lawyer on the House Judiciary Committee, whose work led to impeachment charges against President Richard Nixon in 1974.

PHOTO: Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

In 1975, Rodham married Bill Clinton, whom she met at Yale Law School. He became the governor of Arkansas in 1978. In 1980, the couple had a daughter, Chelsea.

PHOTO: DONALD R. BROYLES/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Arkansas' first lady, now using the name Hillary Rodham Clinton, wears her inaugural ball gown in 1985.

PHOTO: A. Lynn/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

The Clintons celebrate Bill's inauguration in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1991. He was governor from 1983 to 1992, when he was elected President.

PHOTO: Danny Johnston/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Bill Clinton comforts his wife on the set of "60 Minutes" after a stage light broke loose from the ceiling and knocked her down in January 1992.

PHOTO: CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

In June 1992, Clinton uses a sewing machine designed to eliminate back and wrist strain. She had just given a speech at a convention of the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union.

PHOTO: LYNNE SLADKY/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

During the 1992 presidential campaign, Clinton jokes with her husband's running mate, Al Gore, and Gore's wife, Tipper, aboard a campaign bus.

PHOTO: STEPHAN SAVOIA/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton accompanies her husband as he takes the oath of office in January 1993.

PHOTO: TIM CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

The Clintons share a laugh on Capitol Hill in 1993.

PHOTO: Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton unveils the renovated Blue Room of the White House in 1995.

PHOTO: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton waves to the media in January 1996 as she arrives for an appearance before a grand jury in Washington. The first lady was subpoenaed to testify as a witness in the investigation of the Whitewater land deal in Arkansas. The Clintons' business investment was investigated, but ultimately they were cleared of any wrongdoing.

PHOTO: AFP/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

The Clintons hug as Bill is sworn in for a second term as President.

PHOTO: Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

The first lady holds up a Grammy Award, which she won for her audiobook "It Takes a Village" in 1997.

PHOTO: KATHY WILLENS/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

The Clintons dance on a beach in the U.S. Virgin Islands in January 1998. Later that month, Bill Clinton was accused of having a sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

PHOTO: PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton looks on as her husband discusses the Monica Lewinsky scandal in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 26, 1998. Clinton declared, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." In August of that year, Clinton testified before a grand jury and admitted to having "inappropriate intimate contact" with Lewinsky, but he said it did not constitute sexual relations because they had not had intercourse. He was impeached in December on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

PHOTO: NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

The first family walks with their dog, Buddy, as they leave the White House for a vacation in August 1998.

PHOTO: Roberto Borea/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

President Clinton makes a statement at the White House in December 1998, thanking members of Congress who voted against his impeachment. The Senate trial ended with an acquittal in February 1999.

PHOTO: SUSAN WALSH/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton announces in February 2000 that she will seek the U.S. Senate seat in New York. She was elected later that year.

PHOTO: KATHY WILLENS/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton makes her first appearance on the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

PHOTO: Harry Hamburg/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Sen. Clinton comforts Maren Sarkarat, a woman who lost her husband in the September 11 terrorist attacks, during a ground-zero memorial in October 2001.

PHOTO: Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton holds up her book "Living History" before a signing in Auburn Hills, Michigan, in 2003.

PHOTO: BILL PUGLIANO/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton and another presidential hopeful, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, applaud at the start of a Democratic debate in 2007.

PHOTO: Ronda Churchill/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Obama and Clinton talk on the plane on their way to a rally in Unity, New Hampshire, in June 2008. She had recently ended her presidential campaign and endorsed Obama.

PHOTO: The Washington Post/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Obama is flanked by Clinton and Vice President-elect Joe Biden at a news conference in Chicago in December 2008. He had designated Clinton to be his secretary of state.

PHOTO: Charles Dharapak/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton, as secretary of state, greets Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during a meeting just outside Moscow in March 2010.

PHOTO: Alexei Nikolsky/RIA Novosti/POOL/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

The Clintons pose on the day of Chelsea's wedding to Marc Mezvinsky in July 2010.

PHOTO: Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

In this photo provided by the White House, Obama, Clinton, Biden and other members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in May 2011.

PHOTO: Pete Souza/The White House/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton checks her Blackberry inside a military plane after leaving Malta in October 2011. In 2015, The New York Times reported that Clinton exclusively used a personal email account during her time as secretary of state. The account, fed through its own server, raises security and preservation concerns. Clinton later said she used a private domain out of "convenience," but admits in retrospect "it would have been better" to use multiple emails.

PHOTO: Kevin Lamarque/Pool/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton arrives for a group photo before a forum with the Gulf Cooperation Council in March 2012. The forum was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

PHOTO: Brendan Smialowski/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Obama and Clinton bow during the transfer-of-remains ceremony marking the return of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who were killed in Benghazi, Libya, in September 2012.

PHOTO: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton ducks after a woman threw a shoe at her while she was delivering remarks at a recycling trade conference in Las Vegas in 2014.

PHOTO: Isaac Brekken/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton, now running for President again, performs with Jimmy Fallon during a "Tonight Show" skit in September 2015.

PHOTO: Douglas Gorenstein/NBC/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton testifies about the Benghazi attack during a House committee meeting in October 2015. "I would imagine I have thought more about what happened than all of you put together," she said during the 11-hour hearing. "I have lost more sleep than all of you put together. I have been wracking my brain about what more could have been done or should have been done." Months earlier, Clinton had acknowledged a "systemic breakdown" as cited by an Accountability Review Board, and she said that her department was taking additional steps to increase security at U.S. diplomatic facilities.

PHOTO: Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders shares a lighthearted moment with Clinton during a Democratic presidential debate in October 2015. It came after Sanders gave his take on the Clinton email scandal. "The American people are sick and tired of hearing about the damn emails," Sanders said. "Enough of the emails. Let's talk about the real issues facing the United States of America."

PHOTO: ADAM ROSE/CNN

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton is reflected in a teleprompter during a campaign rally in Alexandria, Virginia, in October 2015.

PHOTO: Evan Vucci/AP

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton walks on her stage with her family after winning the New York primary in April.

PHOTO: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

After Clinton became the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee, this photo was posted to her official Twitter account. "To every little girl who dreams big: Yes, you can be anything you want -- even president," Clinton said. "Tonight is for you."

PHOTO: @hillaryclinton/Twitter

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Obama hugs Clinton after he gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The president said Clinton was ready to be commander in chief. "For four years, I had a front-row seat to her intelligence, her judgment and her discipline," he said, referring to her stint as his secretary of state.

PHOTO: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton arrives at a 9/11 commemoration ceremony in New York on September 11. Clinton, who was diagnosed with pneumonia two days before, left early after feeling ill. A video appeared to show her stumble as Secret Service agents helped her into a van.

PHOTO: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

Clinton addresses a campaign rally in Cleveland on November 6, two days before Election Day. She went on to lose Ohio -- and the election -- to her Republican opponent, Donald Trump.

PHOTO: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Photos: Hillary Clinton's life in the spotlight

After conceding the presidency to Trump in a phone call earlier, Clinton addresses supporters and campaign workers in New York on Wednesday, November 9. Her defeat marked a stunning end to a campaign that appeared poised to make her the first woman elected US president.

PHOTO: Andrew Harnik/AP

Prev Next

The statement did not once mention Clinton – but it did not have to. The then-New York senator did vote to authorize the Iraq war, and that vote was one of her greatest vulnerabilities in the 2008 Democratic campaign against Obama, who also opposed the war.

Behind the scenes of the #DemDebate

The Sanders statement raised the possibility that Clinton’s vote could haunt her for a second presidential campaign.

“Democrats are no more fond of the Iraq war now than they were back then. That could be a problem,” Peter Beinart, a foreign policy expert and CNN contributor, said Monday. He added that another Democratic candidate, former Virginia senator and Vietnam war veteran Jim Webb, who was also against the war, could double-team with Sanders to cause trouble for Clinton on the issue.

Sanders has also been staking out territory to Clinton’s left on Syria. The former secretary of state recently distanced herself from Obama’s much-criticized policy on the vicious civil war by calling for a no-fly zone to be set up to shield refugees.

Sanders issued a statement earlier this month pointing out that he opposes such an idea, warning that it could “get us more deeply involved in that horrible civil war and lead to a never ending entanglement in that region.”

The statement appeared to be a clear appeal to Democrats who share Obama’s antipathy toward getting the United States entangled in another Middle Eastern conflict and who are wary of Clinton’s more activist instincts on foreign policy.

The very different debating styles of Clinton and Sanders

Attacks on Wall Street

Sanders is not alone in seeing Clinton’s foreign policy record as a vulnerability. Another Democratic candidate, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, also picked up on her Syria position Sunday – saying on CNN’s “State of the Union” that a no-fly zone was not advisable and warning that the former secretary of state was “always quick for the military intervention,” apparently referring to her previous support for military action in nations such as Iraq and Libya.

Another area where Sanders seems more in tune with the progressive Democratic base is on Wall Street, especially since he has raised most of his money from small donors – unlike the former secretary of state, who has been relying on big budget fund-raising events with rich contributors. Even with his small-donor focus, Sanders is nearly neck-and-neck in the fund-raising race with Clinton.

Clinton has made strenuous attempts to connect with what her campaign has called “regular” Americans, stressing the need to raise up the middle class to feel the benefits of the economic recovery. But Sanders has said that she hasn’t done enough, an argument he may expand upon on the debate stage.

“People will have to contrast my consistency and my willingness to stand up to Wall Street and corporations with the secretary,” Sanders said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

US Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in Chicago in March 2019. Sanders, an independent from Vermont, is the longest-serving independent in the history of Congress.

PHOTO: Nam Y. Huh/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders, right, leads a sit-in organized by the Congress of Racial Equality in 1962. The demonstration was staged to oppose housing segregation at the University of Chicago. It was Chicago's first civil rights sit-in.

PHOTO: Danny Lyon/Magnum Photos

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders takes the oath of office to become the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, in 1981. He ran as an independent and won the race by 10 votes.

PHOTO: Donna Light/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders, right, tosses a baseball before a minor-league game in Vermont in 1984. US Sen. Patrick Leahy, center, was also on hand.

PHOTO: Toby Talbot/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

In 1987, Sanders and a group of Vermont musicians recorded a spoken-word folk album. "We Shall Overcome" was first released as a cassette that sold about 600 copies. When Sanders entered the US presidential race in 2015, the album surged in online sales. But at a CNN town hall, Sanders said, "It's the worst album ever recorded."

PHOTO: Toby Talbot/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders reads mail at his campaign office in Burlington in 1990. He was running for the US House of Representatives after an unsuccessful bid in 1988.

PHOTO: Steve Liss/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

In 1990, Sanders defeated US Rep. Peter Smith in the race for Vermont's lone House seat. He won by 16 percentage points.

PHOTO: Rob Swanson/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders sits next to President Bill Clinton in 1993 before the Congressional Progressive Caucus held a meeting at the White House. Sanders co-founded the caucus in 1991 and served as its first chairman.

PHOTO: Marcy Nighswander/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Barack Obama, then a US senator, endorses Sanders' Senate bid at a rally in Burlington in 2006.

PHOTO: TOBY TALBOT/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders takes part in a swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol in January 2007. He won his Senate seat with 65% of the vote.

PHOTO: David Scull/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders chats with Dr. John Matthew, director of The Health Center in Plainfield, Vermont, in May 2007. Sanders was in Plainfield to celebrate a new source of federal funding for The Health Center.

PHOTO: Toby Talbot/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders speaks to reporters in 2010 about the Obama administration's push to extend Bush-era tax cuts. Three days later, Sanders held a filibuster against the reinstatement of the tax cuts. His speech, which lasted more than eight hours, was published in book form in 2011. It is called "The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class."

PHOTO: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders and US Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, walk to a news conference on Capitol Hill in 2014. Sanders was chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

PHOTO: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

In March 2015, Sanders speaks in front of letters and petitions asking Congress to reject proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

PHOTO: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

In July 2015, two months after announcing he would be seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for President, Sanders spoke to nearly 10,000 supporters in Madison, Wisconsin. "Tonight we have made a little bit of history," he said. "You may know that some 25 candidates are running for President of the United States, but tonight we have more people at a meeting for a candidate for President of the United States than any other candidate has."

PHOTO: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Seconds after Sanders took the stage for a campaign rally in August 2015, a dozen protesters from Seattle's Black Lives Matter chapter jumped barricades and grabbed the microphone from the senator. Holding a banner that said "Smash Racism," two of the protesters -- Marissa Johnson, left, and Mara Jacqueline Willaford -- began to address the crowd.

PHOTO: Elaine Thompson/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders shakes hands with Hillary Clinton at a Democratic debate in Las Vegas in October 2015. The hand shake came after Sanders' take on the Clinton email scandal. "Let me say something that may not be great politics, but the secretary is right -- and that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about the damn emails," Sanders said. "Enough of the emails, let's talk about the real issues facing the United States of America."

PHOTO: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders embraces Remaz Abdelgader, a Muslim student, during an October 2015 event at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Asked what he would do about Islamophobia in the United States, Sanders said he was determined to fight racism and "build a nation in which we all stand together as one people."

PHOTO: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders waves while walking in a Veterans Day parade in Lebanon, New Hampshire, in November 2015.

PHOTO: BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS/Newscom

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders sits with rapper and activist Killer Mike at the Busy Bee Cafe in Atlanta in November 2015. That evening, Killer Mike introduced Sanders at a campaign event in the city. "I'm talking about a revolutionary," the rapper told supporters. "In my heart of hearts, I truly believe that Sen. Bernie Sanders is the right man to lead this country."

PHOTO: David Goldman/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Comedian Larry David and Sanders appear together on "Saturday Night Live" in February 2016. David had played Sanders in a series of sketches throughout the campaign season.

PHOTO: Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders and his wife, Jane, wave to the crowd during a primary night rally in Concord, New Hampshire, in February 2016. Sanders defeated Clinton in the New Hampshire primary with 60% of the vote, becoming the first Jewish candidate to win a presidential primary.

PHOTO: John Minchillo/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in March 2016. He won the state's primary the next day, an upset that delivered a sharp blow to Clinton's hopes of quickly securing the nomination.

PHOTO: JIM YOUNG/REUTERS/Newscom

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders speaks at a campaign event in New York's Washington Square Park in April 2016.

PHOTO: D Dipasupil/WireImage/Getty Images

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders speaks at a rally in Santa Monica, California, in June 2016. He pledged to stay in the Democratic race even though Clinton secured the delegates she needed to become the presumptive nominee.

PHOTO: John Locher/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders endorses Clinton at a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in July 2016.

PHOTO: Taylor Hill/WireImage/Getty Images

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders addresses delegates on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in July 2016.

PHOTO: Anthony Behar/SIPA/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders brings a giant printout of one of Donald Trump's tweets to a Senate debate in January 2017. In the tweet, Trump had promised not to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

PHOTO: Senate TV

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders thanks supporters after winning re-election to the Senate in November 2018.

PHOTO: Charles Krupa/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders looks at his notes as he watches President Trump deliver the State of the Union address in February 2019. That month, Sanders announced that he would be running for president again.

PHOTO: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders hugs a young supporter during a campaign rally in Los Angeles in March 2019.

PHOTO: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders addresses the audience at a CNN town hall in Washington in April 2019.

PHOTO: David Holloway for CNN

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders speaks next to former Vice President Joe Biden at the first Democratic debates in June 2019.

PHOTO: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders raises his fist as he holds a rally in Santa Monica, California, in July 2019.

PHOTO: Damian Dovarganes/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders grabs the hand of US Sen. Elizabeth Warren during the Democratic debates in Detroit in July 2019.

PHOTO: Mark Peterson/Redux for CNN

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders campaigns at the University of New Hampshire in September 2019. A few days later, he took himself off the campaign trail after doctors treated a blockage in one of his arteries. Sanders suffered a heart attack, his campaign confirmed.

PHOTO: Preston Ehrler/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduces Sanders at a New York rally after endorsing him for president in October 2019.

PHOTO: Mary Altaffer/AP

Photos: Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

In a tense and dramatic exchange moments after a Democratic debate, Warren accused Sanders of calling her a liar on national television. Sanders responded that it was Warren who called him a liar. Earlier in the debate, the two disagreed on whether Sanders told Warren, during a private dinner in 2018, that he didn't believe a woman could win the presidency.

PHOTO: Victor J. Blue for CNN