When debating, they say you shouldn't ask a question if you don't already know the answer.

Hillary Clinton wasn't on the debate stage Saturday when she tried to blast Bernie Sanders for his supposed lack of initiative on healthcare reform. But the principle still applies.

During an event in St. Louis, Missouri, Clinton accused the senator from Vermont of being soft on healthcare reform before he made a single-payer system one of his main campaign promises.

"Where was he when I was trying to get healthcare in '93 and '94?" she asked a crowd of supporters.

Sanders was a little closer than Clinton may have given him credit. Like, right behind her.

Literally.

And, as Bloomberg's Jennifer Epstein pointed out, the then-First Lady welcomed Sanders as an ally in those days:

Clinton today: "I don't know where he was when I was trying to get health care." Clinton in '93: pic.twitter.com/H4ETjeH4gU — Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) March 12, 2016

Clinton asked the question and Twitter was more than happy to answer. Her campaign's response to that?

"Exactly," Clinton spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri told The New York Times, "he was standing behind her. She was out in front."

--Eder Campuzano

503.221.4344

@edercampuzano

ecampuzano@oregonian.com