A debate between New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his opponent, actress Cynthia Nixon, got very heated as they battled for the Democratic primary nomination in the gubernatorial election.

'Can you stop lying?'

In one of the more contentious moments, Cuomo demanded Nixon stop interrupting him, whereupon she said she would do so if he stopped lying.

"Excuse me, can you stop interrupting?" Cuomo exclaimed.

"Can you stop lying?," Nixon retorted.

"Yeah, as soon as you do," Cuomo responded as laughter erupted from the audience.

Nixon, who starred in the HBO series, "Sex in the City," has hit Cuomo from his left, leaving many to believe that he has responded by lurching farther to the fringe. This could explain the bizarre comment he made about America never being great, for which he was bombarded by left and right. His office walked back the comment.

Some believe the comment has already knocked Cuomo out of the contention for a presidential run in 2020.

Cuomo addressed the criticism that he would be abandoning his promises to the people of New York if he ran for president.

“The only caveat is if God strikes me dead,” he said. "Otherwise I will serve all four years as governor of New York."

"My opponent lives in the world of fiction, I live in the world of fact," Cuomo said of Nixon at one point, apparently referring to her experience as an actress.

Nixon hit him back with the controversy surrounding his former aide Joe Percoco, who was found guilty of three counts of bribery.

"We have either incompetence or corruption, which is it?" she charged.

Here's a portion of the contentious primary debate:

Nixon has an uphill battle in the Sept. 13 election primary. Cuomo has a 33.5 percentage point advantage in the Real Clear Politics average of polling.