Does a confrontation at the end of a testy evening mark the end of the progressive senators’ longstanding detente?

Two candidates, both alike in dignity/ In fair Iowa, where we lay our scene/ From ancient truce break to new mutiny.

The Shakespearean schism between Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, two longtime friends and colleagues, widened on Tuesday following several tense exchanges at the Democratic debate. Afterward, Sanders outstretched his hand. Warren snatched hers away – signaling what could be the end of what was, until recently, a solid truce.

Warren-Sanders tension simmers and Steyer makes a mark: key debate takeaways Read more

The night began cordially, despite increasingly bitter exchanges between the two liberal candidates over the past few days. Sanders and Warren even shook hands before settling behind their respective podiums.

But about 45 minutes into the debate, the CNN moderator Abby Phillip released what was simmering under the surface, asking Sanders to respond to the report that he told Warren he did not think a female candidate could win in 2020.

“Well, as a matter of fact, I didn’t say it,” Sanders said, implying that Warren, who confirmed the report, was lying.

Phillip cheekily asked Warren what she thought “when Senator Sanders told you a woman could not win the election”.

“I disagreed,” Warren said. She pointed out that she was the only candidate on stage who has beaten an incumbent Republican in the past 30 years. “Look at the men on the stage – collectively they’ve lost 10 elections,” she added.

“The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they’ve been in are the women. Amy and me,” she said, referring to senator Klobuchar. Until now, Warren had largely avoided discussing gender in any substantial manner, but on Tuesday, she concluded the debate by promising to become “the first woman president of the United States of America”.

Mid-debate, the Massachusetts senator did attempt to de-escalate. “Bernie is my friend, and I’m not here to fight with Bernie,” she said. But fight they did: including about whether the year 1990 is inclusive of “the past 30 years”, after Sanders pointed out that he beat a Republican incumbent that year.

The two candidates have until recently refused to criticize each other on the trail. Finding themselves neck-and-neck in Iowa polls, both appear to have sharpened their barbs.

This video has been removed. This could be because it launched early, our rights have expired, there was a legal issue, or for another reason. Elizabeth Warren rebukes Bernie Sanders: 'A woman can win the presidency' – video

On Saturday night, Politico reported that a Sanders campaign script provided to volunteers instructed them to go negative on Warren, which reportedly read: “I like Elizabeth Warren. [optional]. In fact, she’s my second choice. But here’s my concern about her. The people who support her are highly-educated, more affluent people who are going to show up and vote Democratic no matter what. She’s bringing no new bases into the Democratic party. We need to turn out disaffected working-class voters if we’re going to beat Trump.”

Sanders’ campaign denied any intention to drag Warren. Still, the truce was broken.

“I was disappointed to hear that Bernie is sending his volunteers out to trash me,” Warren told reporters after a Sunday town hall in Iowa.

On Monday night, Warren released a statement confirming a report from CNN that Sanders told her at a private 2018 meeting – before either had declared their candidacy – that he believed a woman couldn’t win in 2020. Sanders and his campaign have repeatedly denied that he said this.

After Warren rebuffed Sanders’ handshake on Tuesday night, the two candidates appeared to exchange a few more terse words. Tom Steyer, awkwardly caught between the two, quickly removed himself from the situation. “Goodnight, I’m out of here,” the billionaire activist told reporters afterwards. “I felt like, OK, I need to move on as fast as possible.”

The Gravel Institute (@GravelInstitute) A lip-reading of what they said to each other after the debate:



WARREN: "Hey Bernie, how are you? Sorry, I have a cold, don't shake my hand."



BERNIE: "Doin' great, Liz. Hope the kids are good!"



WARREN: "They are. I like your suit! You chose it well."



BERNIE: "Thanks, Liz."

Many progressive supporters, concerned that infighting could boost up moderate candidates like Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, have urged liberals to make like Steyer and back away from the drama.

Julian Brave NoiseCat, Guardian contributor and strategist at the thinktank Data for Progress, lamented the cycle of “partisans yelling at each other through the internet about who didn’t shake whose hand”.

Before the debate, Varshini Prakash, the director of the progressive Sunrise movement, summed up the ickiness with an analogy: “Mom and dad are fighting and all I wanna do is go to my room and put my headphones on.”