2016 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums

[17] The latter criterion would have accommodated Vice President Joe Biden had he decided to enter the presidential race as late as the day of the debate.

[23] One of the most memorable moments from the debate, which drew an average of 15.3 million viewers, a record for a Democratic debate,[24] came when Sanders replied to a question about Clinton's email controversy that the American people were "sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails", which drew cheers and applause from the audience and a smile and handshake between the two candidates.

Fact-checking by the Associated Press and USA Today pointed out mistakes in both of their presentations: specifically, Clinton was considered inconsistent in many of her policy stances, particularly with regard to the Obama administration's handling of the Syrian Civil War as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement that Clinton supported as Secretary of State, but changed to opposing while a candidate.

[28] In contrast, Sanders was pointed out as making economic claims based on outdated information, particularly with regard to how much of America's GDP actually goes to the wealthiest in the country.

[33] CBS News Political Director John Dickerson was the principal moderator, with participation by Kevin Cooney of KCCI.

[37] Post-debate criticisms arose from all across the political spectrum, from Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, to Clinton's own former campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, who said that the 9/11 reference would've been better used in the previous discussion on terrorism and foreign policy, not justifying her Wall Street connections.

[38] The New York Times and many other media organizations have heavily criticized Clinton for invoking 9/11 to cover her Wall Street connections.

[7] The topics covered during the debate included Sanders' campaign's breach of Clinton's campaign data, strategy for defeating ISIS, gun control, the issue of whether to depose President Assad of Syria, if Wall Street favored each candidate, stability in the Middle East enforced by dictators and whether regime change was necessary, and the role of the First Spouse.

[47] Also during the debate, Clinton and Sanders had some back-and-forth exchanges to define themselves on Wall Street, foreign policy, and gun control.

[53] On January 31, the DNC officially sanctioned the debate but removed the Union Leader as a sponsor, and each major Democratic candidate confirmed their attendance.

[54][55] O'Malley suspended his campaign after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses, thereby leaving Clinton and Sanders as the remaining participants.

There was discussion on the death penalty (federal versus state), money in politics, and assessing Russia, Iran, and North Korea as threats to national security.

During a break, highlights of the debate were shown by Hari Sreenivasan with political commentary from Lisa Desjardins, Amy Walter, and Tamara Keith weighing in on what had been said.

The candidates debated on race relations, the size of government, funding their goals, Medicaid/Medicare, campaign contributor's influence, the prospect of a first woman president, affordable college, reducing areas of government, readiness for an attack on America, Henry Kissinger, Russian relations, the U.S. role with respect to refugees, influential leaders on foreign policy, and criticism of President Barack Obama.

Clinton's closing talked about not being a single issue candidate and taking on all barriers to people achieving their individual potentials.

At the end of the debate, Cooper announced a labor union fund had committed $25 million in low-interest loans towards repairing the water system.

Members of the audience, made up of Democrats and Independents, were also given the chance to field questions, which were screened to avoid overlapping in content.

A subsequent WikiLeaks email dump suggested that DNC vice chair Donna Brazile gave Clinton an unfair advantage in the debate with Sanders, revealed by Brazille's email message on March 5, 2016, to John Podesta and Jennifer Palmieri with the title: "One of the questions directed to HRC tomorrow is from a woman with a rash."

After starting at the DNC in April 2015, Manriquez "talked about the idea for a debate for Democratic candidates on Univision to anyone who had ears to listen.

[71] Despite previously agreeing to a tenth debate in the state of California, before the last day of primary elections, Hillary Clinton declined to participate.

Bernie Sanders accepted the offer; however, Donald Trump eventually declined to participate, stating there was no need to debate a candidate who would not win the Democratic nomination.

[83] The two candidates delivered responses on Social Security, student debt, gun violence, immigration, campaign finance reform, climate change, the progressive movement, the Syrian refugee crisis, the economy, racial profiling, and police brutality, and gave closing statements.

[89] The eighth forum, a Town Hall event, was held at 6:00 p.m. EST on March 7, 2016, at the Gem Theatre in Detroit, Michigan, on the Fox News Channel.

This was known as the Final Five Forum by CNN, and included Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich live, with Bernie Sanders participating remotely.

State Senator Martha Fuller Clark, vice chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, reportedly had an "intense discussion" about the number of debates with DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

[102] On September 18, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi echoed calls for more debates in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

[103] On September 19, 2015, during her speech at the New Hampshire Democratic Party convention, DNC chair Wasserman Schultz was heckled with shouts for more debates.

[110] In response, the organization released a press statement on its Facebook page stating that "[i]n consultation with our chapters, our communities, allies, and supporters, we remain unequivocal that a Presidential Town Hall with support from the DNC does not sufficiently respond to the concerns raised by our members", continuing to demand a full additional debate.

[108] Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig, who announced his campaign on September 6, criticized the requirement that Democratic candidates must earn at least 1% in three major national polls in the six weeks before the debate.

His criticism was centered on the fact that he was excluded from most polls because the Democratic National Committee (DNC) did not officially welcome him to the campaign as it had done for all five other candidates.