Elizabeth Warren accused fellow Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders of calling her a liar before a national television audience during a tense, post-debate exchange.

Key points: Democratic candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders disagreed over whether Senator Sanders told Senator Warren a woman could not win the 2020 presidential election

Democratic candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders disagreed over whether Senator Sanders told Senator Warren a woman could not win the 2020 presidential election After the debate, Senator Warren approached Senator Sanders, rejected his outstretched hand, and accused him of calling her a liar on national TV

After the debate, Senator Warren approached Senator Sanders, rejected his outstretched hand, and accused him of calling her a liar on national TV Senator Sanders responded saying "let's not do this right now"

In a confrontation caught on camera after the debate, Senator Warren refused to shake Senator Sanders' hand, but the audio of their interaction was unable to be heard by the audience.

The Democratic presidential rivals are strong progressives who have steadfastly refused to attack each other for more than a year on the campaign trail.

But that changed on Wednesday (Australian time), when Senator Warren said Senator Sanders had told her in a private 2018 meeting that a woman could not be elected president.

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Senator Sanders has denied saying that, and again denied the claim during Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate.

Senator Warren stood by her account and said it was time to confront the larger issues of sexism in politics.

That exchange lasted only a few minutes, but after the debate was over, Senator Warren approached Senator Sanders, who proffered his hand for her to shake.

Instead, she confronted him, and the two talked briefly in tense tones.

Neither campaign would confirm what was said Tuesday night, but CNN released the audio on Thursday.

Senator Warren: "I think you called me a liar on national TV." Senator Sanders: "What?" Senator Warren: "I think you called me a liar on national TV." Senator Sanders: "You know, let's not do it right now. If you want to have that discussion, we'll have that discussion." Senator Warren: "Anytime." Senator Sanders: "You called me a liar. You told me ... alright, let's not do it now."

The exchange was interrupted by fellow candidate and environmentalist Tom Steyer, who was standing behind the two.

Senator Steyer said: "I don't want to get in the middle. I just want to say 'hi' to Bernie."

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Senator Sanders replied: "Yeah, good, OK."

Senator Warren and Senator Sanders had been abiding by an informal non-aggression pact for the entire campaign, but with less than three weeks until the first nomination contest in Iowa on February 3, that pledge to go easy on each other now appears over.

Their aides have for days attempted to de-escalate the feud, with some progressives concerned that ill-will between the cause's two leading voices will ultimately hurt both of them and could benefit more moderate Democratic presidential hopefuls like former vice president Joe Biden and former Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg.

AP/Reuters