Seventh Democratic Primary Debate

The seventh debate was conducted on March 6 at 8.00 pm EST, in Flint, Michigan at the The Whiting at the Flint Cultural Center. The city chosen was the epicenter of the ongoing Flint water crisis. It 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 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. Sanders attracted controversy when he quoted a Black Lives Matter advocate who said "When you are white, you don't know what it's like to be living in a ghetto. You you [sic don’t know what it’s like to be poor," when answering a question in the debate Commentators and supporters criticized Sanders for being insensitive and racially inflammatory.