Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. REUTERS/Jim Young Bernie Sanders attacked his presidential rival Hillary Clinton at the Sunday-night Democratic debate in Flint, Michigan, for what he characterized as her coziness with Wall Street.

The fireworks started with an exchange over the auto industry, which has an outsize presence in the local economy.

"I voted to save the auto industry," Clinton said at the CNN-hosted event. "He voted against the money that ended up saving the auto industry."

Sanders, a Vermont senator, then accused Clinton of allowing her "friends" on Wall Street to destroy the US economy.

"Well, if you are talking about the Wall Street bailout, where some of your friends destroyed this economy," Sanders began.

Clinton starting speaking, but Sanders interjected.

"Excuse me, I'm talking," he said.

"If you're going to talk, tell the whole story, Sen. Sanders," the former secretary of state shot back.

"Let me tell my story, you tell yours," Sanders said.

He continued:

Your story is of voting for every disastrous trade agreement and voting for corporate America. Did I vote against the Wall Street bailout when billionaires on Wall Street destroyed this economy? They went to Congress and they said, 'Oh please, we'll be good boys, bail us out.' You know what I said? I said, 'Let the billionaires themselves bail out Wall Street.'

Bernie Sanders. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

Sanders touted his record of "standing up to corporate America" and voting against trade agreements that would "destroy the middle class."

He later called on Clinton to release the transcripts of her paid speeches at big Wall Street firms. Because Clinton was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per event, Sanders mused that she must have given "great" speeches to these companies.

"While we're on Wall Street, one of us has a super PAC," Sanders said. "One of us has raised $15 million from Wall Street for that super PAC. One of us has given speeches on Wall Street for hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Clinton also called Sanders a "single issue" candidate.

Sanders, who has built his campaign around reining in Wall Street, replied by saying the "middle class" was his issue.