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Bernie Sanders was quick to dispute the characterization that he is in cahoots with the Koch brothers. | Getty Clinton seeks to tie Sanders to the Koch brothers

Hillary Clinton said Wednesday night that Bernie Sanders is in cahoots with the billionaire conservative Koch brothers because a group affiliated with them praised Sanders for opposing the Export-Import Bank.

“The leaders of the fossil fuel industry, the Koch brothers, have just paid to put up an ad praising Senator Sanders,” Clinton said. “You know, there are a lot of different powerful interests in Washington, I’ve taken them on.”

Sanders was quick to dispute the characterization, which came as Clinton was playing defense on giving speeches and taking donations on Wall Street.

“There is nobody in the United States Congress who has taken on the Koch brothers, who want to destroy Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and virtually every federal program passed since the 1930s, more than Bernie Sanders,” Sanders replied.

Clinton noted that many Republicans share Sanders' opposition to the Export-Import Bank.

“They stand for things that I find abhorrent, that would be bad for our country, bad for our future,” Clinton said of the Koch brothers.

Sanders derided the Export-Import Bank as the “Bank of Boeing,” because the aerospace giant and other big businesses receive significant funds from it.