A total of ten debates occurred among candidates in the
campaign for the
Democratic Party's nomination for the
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
in the
2016 presidential election (This was in contrast to 12 Republican debates.).
Several forums, in which candidates do not respond directly to each other, were later also announced, with the support of the DNC.
Presidential debates
Schedule
The
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
(DNC) announced on May 5, 2015, that there would be 6 debates, which they considered "a reasonable number and in line with what the national committee sanctioned in 2008."
On August 6, 2015, the DNC announced the locations for all six original debates, with exact venues still to be determined, and the specific dates for the first four debates.
In late January 2016, trailing the
New Hampshire primary race, the
Clinton campaign requested a
second New Hampshire debate, which had already been scheduled to February 4, to be officially sanctioned by the DNC. The
Sanders campaign said they would only agree with that proposal if a total of four additional debates would be held, one in February, March, April and May each. Both campaigns agreed to a March 3 debate in Flint, Michigan. There also seemed to be agreement on a California debate on May 24, but not at the remaining April 14 debate in Brooklyn, New York, as proposed by Sanders. On February 3, just ahead of the second New Hampshire debate, Clinton's and Sanders's campaigns agreed in principle to holding four more debates, also sanctioned by the DNC, for a total of 10.
Ratings
The following table lists the ratings (number of estimated viewers) of the debates to date.
Tuesday October 13, 2015 – Paradise, Nevada
The Democratic Party's first presidential debate ahead of the
2016 U.S. presidential election was held on October 13, 2015, at the
Wynn Hotel on the
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...
in
Paradise, Nevada
Paradise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the ...
.
Starting at 8:30 p.m. and ending at 11:00 p.m. Eastern time, it aired on
CNN and was broadcast on radio by
Westwood One.
Anderson Cooper was the moderator of the debate, with
Dana Bash and Juan Carlos Lopez asking additional questions and
Don Lemon presenting questions submitted by voters via Facebook.
To be invited to the debate, a candidate had to achieve an average of at least 1% in three recognized national polls released between August 1 and October 10. In addition, a candidate had to either file a statement of candidacy with the
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...
or declare that one would be filed by October 14, the day after the debate. The latter criterion would have accommodated
Vice President
A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
had he decided to enter the presidential race as late as the day of the debate.
CNN had an extra lectern available to install for Biden, but he took no action to enter the campaign before the debate.
Analysis on the debate was largely mixed regarding who, between the top two candidates, won. Some analysts from
CNN and
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
viewed Clinton as the winner,
while other publications such as ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'', and the
Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...
, claimed that Sanders was the winner.
Conversely, Chafee, O'Malley and Webb were all widely regarded as the "losers".
[ One of the most memorable moments from the debate, which drew an average of 15.3 million viewers, a record for a Democratic debate, 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. With regard to social media, Sanders had the biggest gains of the night on ]Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
and Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
, with an increase of 46,000 new followers and 35,000 new likes, respectively; over the course of the night, he was also the most-searched candidate on Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
. Conversely, Clinton had the biggest gains on Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
, with 25,000 likes for her photograph of her podium just before the debate started. It was noted that Republican frontrunner Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, who was live-Tweeting during the entire debate and mocking the candidates, gained more Twitter followers over the course of the night than all of the five candidates combined, with over 70,000 new followers.
With the focus primarily being on Clinton and Sanders, a majority of subsequent fact-checking
Fact-checking is the process of verifying the factual accuracy of questioned reporting and statements. Fact-checking can be conducted before or after the text or content is published or otherwise disseminated. Internal fact-checking is such che ...
in the aftermath of the debate was regarding comments made by the two of them. Fact-checking by the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
and ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' 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. 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.
This was the first and only debate appearance of Chafee and Webb, who ended their campaigns on October 23 and October 20, respectively.
*
Saturday November 14, 2015 – Des Moines, Iowa
The Democratic Party's second presidential debate ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election was held on November 14, 2015, at the Sheslow Auditorium at Drake University
Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...
in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...
.
It aired on CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
and was also broadcast by KCCI
KCCI (channel 8) is a television station in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Ninth Street in downtown Des Moines and a KCCI Tower, transmitter in Alleman, Iowa, A ...
and ''The Des Moines Register
''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States.
History Early period
The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...
''. This was the first debate to be broadcast over nationwide network television, the previous debate having gone over cable.
CBS News Political Director John Dickerson was the principal moderator, with participation by Kevin Cooney of KCCI
KCCI (channel 8) is a television station in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Ninth Street in downtown Des Moines and a KCCI Tower, transmitter in Alleman, Iowa, A ...
.
The day before the debate, November 13, was the day of the November 2015 Paris attacks, where nearly 130 civilians were killed by radical Jihadist terrorists - specifically, members of ISIS
Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
- across the city of Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. As a result of the attacks, after initial speculation that the debate might be cancelled, CBS announced that, while the debate would go on as planned, the focus of the debate's content would be dramatically shifted over to foreign policy and terrorism. In addition, a moment of silence was held at the beginning of the debate in memory of the victims.
One of the most memorable moments of the debate was when Clinton defended against claims that she had ties to Wall Street bankers, particularly when Sanders pointed out that some of Clinton's largest donors were from Wall Street. Clinton retaliated by claiming that, as the Senator from New York during the September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, she had to work closely with Wall Street since the attacks were so close to Wall Street. Clinton immediately received scrutiny over these comments, including when Dickerson highlighted a Tweet from a viewer reading, "Never before have I heard someone use 9/11 to justify millions of Wall Street donations," which drew thunderous applause from the audience, and led to both Sanders and O'Malley also attacking Clinton for those comments. Post-debate criticisms arose from all across the political spectrum, from Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...
Chairman Reince Priebus
Reinhold Richard "Reince" Priebus ( ; born March 18, 1972) is an American politician, attorney, and naval officer who served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2011 to 2017 and as White House chief of staff during the first s ...
, 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.
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' and many other media organizations have heavily criticized Clinton for invoking 9/11 to cover her Wall Street
Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
connections.
Second presidential debate of the Democrats in Des Moines
on CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
Saturday December 19, 2015 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
The Democratic Party's third presidential debate ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election was held on December 19, 2015, at St. Anselm College
Saint Anselm College is a Private college, private Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire, United States. Founded in 1889, it is named after Saint Ansel ...
, in Goffstown, New Hampshire.
It aired on ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to:
* ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
* ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company
ABC News may a ...
and was moderated by journalist David Muir, anchor of '' World News Tonight'', and Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz. On December 11, 2015, the DNC had announced that it would revoke the sponsorship of the debate by WMUR-TV because of a labor dispute with its unionized employees. 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.
*
Sunday January 17, 2016 – Charleston, South Carolina
The Democratic Party's fourth presidential debate ahead of the 2016 Democratic primaries, and the first one in 2016, was held on January 17, 2016, at the Gaillard Center, a venue for performing arts in Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...
.
Held from 9 to 11 pm ET, it was facilitated by Lester Holt and Andrea Mitchell. The location was 7.6 miles southeast of the North Charleston Coliseum, where the last Republican debate had been held on January 14, and the debate aired on NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
and YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. It was also sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus. It was notable as being the final debate before the start of precinct caucus
A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures.
The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...
es and primary voting. On January 8, NBC News announced that in order to qualify for the debate, a candidate must have reached an average of at least 5% either in national polls, or in Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina, based on the five most recent polls recognized by NBC News released before January 14.
Both before and after the debate, commentators said the debate was focused on Sanders and his voting record on gun control and slights against President Obama, among other issues. During the debate, O'Malley interrupted to take 30 seconds to talk about "homeland security and preparedness". Also during the debate, Clinton and Sanders had some back-and-forth exchanges to define themselves on Wall Street, foreign policy, and gun control.
Chris Cillizza of ''The Washington Post'' viewed Sanders as the winner of the debate, while also praising O'Malley. According to Cillizza, Clinton was, "as always, solid," but "she did nothing in the debate to slow the momentum that Sanders is building in Iowa and New Hampshire."
This was the fourth and final debate appearance of O'Malley, who suspended his campaign on February 1.
*
Thursday February 4, 2016 – Durham, New Hampshire
The Democratic Party's fifth presidential debate ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election was held on February 4, 2016, in Durham, New Hampshire.
On January 26, NBC News and the ''New Hampshire Union Leader'' announced plans to hold an unsanctioned debate in New Hampshire on February 4, to be moderated by Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow. Clinton, Sanders, and O'Malley all received an invitation to the debate, with O'Malley being the first to confirm his participation. 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. O'Malley suspended his campaign after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses
The Iowa caucuses are quadrennial electoral events for the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections, where registered voters cast ballots at polling places on election day, Iowa caucuses are ...
, thereby leaving Clinton and Sanders as the remaining participants. The debate aired on February 4, 2016, from 9 to 11 pm ET on MSNBC.
Commentators of the debate cited the elevated discourse between the candidates. 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. Clinton demanded that Sanders explain his "artful smears" of Clinton receiving campaign donations. Sanders responded by critiquing the inherently "quid-pro-quo" nature of Wall Street campaign donations. The exchange between the two candidates was called by Eric Levitz one of the best 10-minute exchanges in the history of American political debates.
*
Thursday February 11, 2016 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Democratic Party's sixth presidential debate ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election was held on February 11, 2016, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...
, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
.
Starting at 8:00 pm CST, the debate was aired on PBS and simulcast by CNN. Two anchors of PBS NewsHour
''PBS News Hour'', previously stylized as ''PBS NewsHour'', is the news division of PBS and an American daily evening news broadcasting#television, television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS Network affiliate#Member stations, member stat ...
, Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff
Judy Carline Woodruff (born November 20, 1946) is an American broadcast journalist who has worked in local, network, cable, and public television news since 1970. She was the anchor and managing editor of the ''PBS NewsHour'' through the end of 20 ...
, moderated for the two candidates.
The debate preshow ran for 30 minutes before the debate. Clinton noted it was a new milestone among presidential debates as more women were on the debate stage than men (3:1). After opening statements with Sanders going first, each candidate had 90 seconds to answer and then the other was given a 30-second response. There were two short breaks. During a break, highlights of the debate were shown by Hari Sreenivasan with political commentary from Lisa Desjardins, Amy Walter, and Tamara Keith
Tamara Dawnell Keith (; born September 25, 1979) is an American journalist. She is the White House correspondent for NPR and co-hosts the ''NPR Politics Podcast'' with Scott Detrow''.'' She regularly appears on the ''PBS NewsHour'' weekly segmen ...
weighing in on what had been said.
The candidates debated on race relations, the size of government, funding their goals, Medicaid
Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...
/ Medicare, campaign contributor's influence, the prospect of a first woman president, affordable college, reducing areas of government, readiness for an attack on America
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...
, Russian relations, the U.S. role with respect to refugees, influential leaders on foreign policy, and criticism of President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
. In closing statements, Sanders talked about bringing people together to create a representative government. Clinton's closing talked about not being a single issue candidate and taking on all barriers to people achieving their individual potentials.
After the debate, the commentators were asked if the candidates did what they needed to do. Then Sreenivasan interviewed journalists David Brooks and Mark Shields in the postdebate coverage.
*
Sunday March 6, 2016 – Flint, Michigan
The Democratic Party's seventh presidential debate ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election was held on March 6, 2016, at The Whiting, Flint Cultural Center, in Flint, Michigan
Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...
.
The city chosen was the epicenter of the ongoing Flint water crisis
The Flint water crisis was a public health crisis from 2014 to 2019 which involved the drinking water for the city of Flint, Michigan, being contaminated with lead and possibly ''Legionella'' bacteria.
In April 2014, during a financial crisis, ...
. Starting at 8.00 pm EST, the debate aired on CNN and was moderated by Anderson Cooper. He was joined by CNN's Don Lemon in asking questions. The debate ran for almost two hours. At the end of the debate, Cooper announced a labor union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
fund had committed $25 million in low-interest loans towards repairing the water system.
The Michigan Democratic Party claimed the organization had no tickets to distribute leading up to the debate for the general public, party volunteers & major party donors, however sent out open public emails with links to open invites for any person interested in attending a pre-debate reception and dinner on March 5, combined with debate tickets for March 6, that would be willing to purchase tickets for $1,000 to $20,000 per package via EventBrite.
Candidates were given 75 seconds to respond and 30 seconds for follow-ups. 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. Sanders and Clinton were given 60 seconds for opening statements and for closing statements at the end of the debate.
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." The message continued, "her family has lead poison and she will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help the ppl of Flint."
*
Wednesday March 9, 2016 – Miami, Florida
The Democratic Party's eighth presidential debate ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election was held on March 9, 2016, in Building 7 of the Kendall Campus of Miami Dade College in Miami, Florida
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
.
Starting at 9:00 pm Eastern Standard Time, it was broadcast through a partnership between Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...
and ''The Washington Post''. The debate was discussed during a job interview conducted in early 2015 between the Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
's then-Communications Director Mo Elleithee and future Hispanic Media Director Pablo Manriquez. 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." The debate was officially announced on November 2, 2015.
*
Thursday April 14, 2016 – Brooklyn, New York
The Democratic Party's ninth presidential debate ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election was held on April 14, 2016, at the Duggal Greenhouse in Brooklyn Navy Yard
The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York, U.S. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a se ...
. The debate aired on CNN and NY1. Wolf Blitzer of CNN served as moderator.
Planned May debate/Potential Sanders/Trump debate
Despite previously agreeing to a tenth debate in the state of California, before the last day of primary elections, Hillary Clinton declined to participate. As a result of this, the debate was cancelled. Bernie Sanders called it insulting to the people of California, the largest primary state.
After it had been established that a California debate would not take place, Donald Trump offered a debate with Bernie Sanders ahead of the June 7th primary. The only condition for this debate was for the profits to be donated to a charity, which the candidates would agree on. 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.
Forums
In addition to the main debates, twelve forums were scheduled for the candidates to discuss the issues.
Schedule
November 6, 2015 – Rock Hill, South Carolina
Rachel Maddow was selected to moderate the First in the South Candidates Forum with Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O'Malley, which was held at Winthrop University
Winthrop University is a public university in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was founded in 1886 by David Bancroft Johnson, who served as the superintendent of Columbia, South Carolina schools. He received a grant from Robert Charles Winthrop, a ...
in Rock Hill, South Carolina
Rock Hill is the most populous city in York County, South Carolina, United States, and the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 5th-most populous city in the state. It is also the 4th-most populous city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, be ...
, on November 6, co-sponsored by the Democratic Parties of 13 southern states. The forum was not in debate format; instead, each candidate was interviewed individually and sequentially. Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb were also invited, but their campaigns never responded to the invitations, and both subsequently withdrew from the race. Lessig attempted multiple times to enter the debates but was systematically excluded by the DNC.
A Public Policy Poll of South Carolina Democratic voters conducted from November 7–8, after the forum, discovered that 67% of viewers thought Clinton won the forum, 16% thought Sanders won, and 6% thought O'Malley won, with 11% unsure.
November 24, 2015 – MoveOn.org
The second forum for the Democratic primaries occurred on November 24, 2015. On October 21, 2015, MoveOn
MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressivism in the United States, progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown ...
announced that it would host a candidate forum to be recorded and aired online in mid-November. The announcement came amid ongoing unrest within the Democratic party over the unusually low number of Democratic debates allowed by the DNC. While five candidates – Lincoln Chafee, Hillary Clinton, Lawrence Lessig, Martin O'Malley, and Bernie Sanders – were invited, only Sanders and O'Malley appeared at the event. Although this was the first forum between the candidates in which Lessig was invited, he dropped out of the race before the forum was to be held.
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.
January 11, 2016 – Des Moines, Iowa
The third forum, the Iowa Brown and Black Forum, occurred on January 11, 2016, at Drake University
Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...
in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...
. Focusing on minority issues, it aired on Fusion.
January 25, 2016 – Des Moines, Iowa
The fourth forum was a Town Hall held on January 25, 2016, also at Drake University
Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...
in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...
. Focusing on "Progressive revolution and change", it aired on CNN.
February 3, 2016 – Derry, New Hampshire
The fifth forum, a Town Hall event, happened on February 3, 2016, at "Adams Opera House" in Derry, New Hampshire. Focusing on the several topics for "progressive proposals", it aired on CNN.
February 18, 2016 – Las Vegas, Nevada
The sixth forum, a Town Hall event, occurred on February 18, 2016, at the Keep Memory Alive (KMA) event center in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. It aired on MSNBC
MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
and Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...
. Sanders was asked a series of questions before the microphone was turned over to Hillary Rodham Clinton. A number of questions were directed at Latino and American-Islamic issues and some questions were asked in Spanish. Young voters and first-time voters also spoke.
February 23, 2016 – Columbia, South Carolina
The seventh forum and Town Hall event was held at 8:00 pm EST on February 23, 2016, at the campus of the University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...
in Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...
. It was aired on CNN.
March 7, 2016 – Detroit, Michigan
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
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
, on the Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...
. The forum was moderated by Bret Baier.
March 13, 2016 – Columbus, Ohio
The ninth forum was held at 8:00 pm EDT on March 13, 2016, at the campus of Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
, and aired on CNN.
March 14, 2016 – Columbus, Ohio and Springfield, Illinois
The tenth forum was held at 6:00 pm EDT on March 14, 2016, at the campus of Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
, and at the Old State Capitol State Historic Site in Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...
. It aired on MSNBC
MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
. The first section of the town hall with Bernie Sanders was moderated by Chuck Todd
Charles David Todd (born April 8, 1972) is an American television journalist who was the 12th moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. During his time at NBC News between 2007 and 2025, Todd also hosted ''Meet the Press Now'', its daily edition ...
in Columbus; the second section of the town hall with Hillary Clinton was moderated by Chris Matthews
Christopher John Matthews (born December 17, 1945) is an American political commentator, retired talk show host, and author. Matthews hosted his weeknight hour-long talk show, ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'', on America's Talking and later on M ...
in Springfield.
March 21, 2016 – Washington, D.C.
The eleventh forum was held at 8:00 pm EDT on March 21, 2016. This was known as the Final Five Forum by CNN, and included Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
, Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...
and John Kasich live, with Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
participating remotely. The event was hosted by Anderson Cooper.
March 30, 2016 – Wisconsin and New York City
The twelfth forum was held at 7:00 pm EDT on March 30, 2016. This was a four-hour special on MSNBC
MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
, with the first hour featuring John Kasich in Queens, New York in a town hall format moderated by Chuck Todd
Charles David Todd (born April 8, 1972) is an American television journalist who was the 12th moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. During his time at NBC News between 2007 and 2025, Todd also hosted ''Meet the Press Now'', its daily edition ...
, with the next hour being a town hall with Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
in Green Bay, Wisconsin moderated by Chris Matthews
Christopher John Matthews (born December 17, 1945) is an American political commentator, retired talk show host, and author. Matthews hosted his weeknight hour-long talk show, ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'', on America's Talking and later on M ...
. Rachel Maddow conducted back-to-back one-on-one interviews with Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
and Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
.
April 25, 2016 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The thirteenth forum was held on April 25, 2016, at the National Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center is a non-profit institution that is devoted to the study of the Constitution of the United States. Located at the Independence Mall (Philadelphia), Independence Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the center is a ...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on MSNBC
MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
. Chris Hayes interviewed Bernie Sanders at 8:00 pm EDT, and Rachel Maddow interviewed Hillary Clinton at 9:00 pm EDT.
Criticism and controversy
Number of debates
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
and Martin O'Malley
Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American politician who served as the 17th commissioner of the Social Security Administration from 2023 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was th ...
criticized the number of DNC debates, saying that there should have been more of them. The DNC had scheduled six debates, the same number it had scheduled in the previous two contested primaries, 2004 and 2008. Democratic Party candidates are not formally allowed to participate in non-sanctioned debates if they want to participate in the official DNC debates. However, that rule is unenforceable if candidates jointly agree to additional debates or if the sanctioned debates are already over, as was the case in 2016 and in previous years when additional debates were scheduled.
Criticism over the number of debates reached a peak at the DNC's national meeting in Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
on August 28. 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
Deborah Wasserman Schultz ( Wasserman; ; born September 27, 1966) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for , first elected to Congress in United States House of Representatives elec ...
. During the national meeting, candidate Martin O'Malley criticized DNC officials for the lack of debates. Cecil Benjamin, chair of the Democratic Party of the US Virgin Islands, interrupted the meeting to offer a motion to increase the number of debates; the motion received applause and cheers from the audience.
In early September, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician and military officer serving as the director of National Intelligence, director of national intelligence (DNI) since 2025. She has held the rank of Lieutenant colonel (United Stat ...
and former Mayor of Minneapolis R. T. Rybak released a statement calling for more debates and for releasing the restrictions imposed to keep candidates from participating in non-DNC debates. Former DNC chair Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, consultant, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 20 ...
expressed his disappointment in the rule barring candidates from non-DNC debates, saying "It's not right." A small protest took place outside the DNC headquarters in Washington, D.C., on September 16 calling for more debates. On September 18, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...
echoed calls for more debates in an interview with the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''.
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. On September 22, the Vermont Democratic Party sent a letter to the DNC calling for more debates.
Black Lives Matter debate
A week after the first debate was held in Las Vegas, the organization Black Lives Matter (which plays a central part in the movement of the same name) launched a petition targeted at the DNC and chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz demanding more debates, and "specifically for a #BlackLivesMatter themed Presidential debate." The petition received over 10,000 signatures within 24 hours of being launched, and had over 33,000 signatures as of October 27. The DNC said that it would permit presidential candidates to attend a presidential town hall organized by activists, but that it would not add another debate to its official schedule. In response, the organization released a press statement on its Facebook page stating that " 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.
Candidates invited to debate
Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig
Lester Lawrence "Larry" Lessig III (born June 3, 1961) is an American legal scholar and political activist. He is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the former director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvar ...
, 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. In the two weeks following his announcement, Lessig was only included in one national poll, in which he met the 1% requirement; other national polls included Vice President Biden, who had yet to announce whether he was running. The day before the CNN debate, the Bloomberg Editorial Board published an editorial entitled, "Let All the Candidates Debate, Democrats," calling for the DNC to include Lessig in the debate, but this demand went unheeded.
Lessig, upon his withdrawal from the campaign, was quoted as saying that "from the start it was clear that getting into the Democratic debates was the essential step in this campaign. I may be known in tiny corners of the tubes of the internets, but I am not well-known to the American public generally." Lessig acknowledged that in order to raise the discussion of campaign finance reform in the 2016 election, getting into debates was key. "But last week, we learned that the Democratic party has changed its rules for inclusion in the debate," he said. The DNC debate-qualifying rule originally required a candidate to poll at least 1% in three national polls ''during'' the six weeks prior to a debate. Under the new rule, which Lessig stated was the reason for his campaign suspension, a candidate is required to poll at least 1% in three national polls at least six weeks ''before'' a debate. Lessig said that "unless we can time travel, there is no way that I can qualify." He then announced the suspension of his campaign.
Dates with low expected ratings
The campaigns of both Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley criticized the days and times for the debates, as well as stating that more of them were needed. Of the nine debates, two took place on a Saturday, two on Sunday, three on a Thursday, one on a Tuesday and one on a Wednesday. The choice of Saturday was criticised because it generally has lower television viewership according to Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
, with only Friday nights having lower ratings. While the first Democratic debate took place on a Tuesday night and drew 15.3 million viewers, the second Democratic debate took place on a Saturday night and drew only about 8.5 million viewers. The third Democratic debate also took place on a Saturday night, and drew slightly lower but comparable ratings to the second debate. In the event, the Saturday night debates were the third- and fifth-most watched debates.[
One of the Saturday night debates took place the Saturday before Christmas, and another took place on Sunday night of Martin Luther King Day weekend, a scheduling that Vox.com says is also expected to make for poor ratings.]
Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz has denied claims that the DNC wants to protect frontrunner Hillary Clinton by picking dates that will receive poor viewership.
See also
* 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries
* 2016 Democratic Party presidential candidates
* 2016 Republican Party presidential debates and forums
* 2016 Green Party presidential debates and forums
A series of political debates were held between the Green Party (United States), Green candidates for US president, president in the 2016 United States presidential election.
Presidential debates
July 24, 2015 - Green Party Annual National ...
* 2016 Libertarian Party presidential debates and forums
* 2016 United States presidential debates
* 2004 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums
* 2008 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums
* 2020 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums
References
External links
Video of the November 6, 2015 forum in Rock Hill, South Carolina
Video of MoveOn's November 24, 2015 virtual forum
Video of the January 11, 2016 forum in Des Moines, State of Iowa
Video of the February 18, 2016 forum in Las Vegas, State of Nevada
Video of the April 14, 2016 debate in Brooklyn, New York
* Video of the February 23, 2016, forum in Columbia, South Carolina
*
Sanders Pt1
*
Sanders Pt2
*
H.Clinton Pt1
*
H.Clinton Pt2
{{Bernie Sanders
2016 United States presidential debates
2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
2015 in American television
2016 in American television