Clinton kept tying herself to the president throughout Thursday night’s Democratic debate. She had nothing but praise for Obama and scorn for Bernie Sanders’s criticism of him. “I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves,” Clinton said of Obama, citing his handling of the financial crisis and Republican obstructionism. Clinton accused Sanders of calling Obama weak and disappointing.

Of course, that’s because Obama polls at an average 87 percent among Democratic voters nationwide. In the next primary, South Carolina, Obama receives 93 percent approval among registered Democrats, according to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

On health care she noted, “I am a staunch supporter of President Obama’s principal accomplishment,” the Affordable Care Act. On systemic racism: “I think President Obama has set a great example.” She also commended his approach to the influx of undocumented children entering the U.S.: “The fact is that there was a great effort made by the Obama administration and others to really send a clear message.”

Sanders took issue with Clinton’s characterizations, because he too is well aware of the president’s popularity.



“I have been a strong ally with him on virtually every issue,” Sanders replied. Earlier in the debate, Sanders said he is “somebody who is very fond of the president, agrees with him most of the time.”