One of the most memorable moments of the debate was when Clinton defended against claims that she had ties to Wall Street bankers , particularly when Sanders pointed out that some of Clinton 's largest donors were from Wall Street . Clinton retaliated by claiming that , as the Senator from New York during the September 11 attacks , she had to work closely with Wall Street since the attacks were so close to Wall Street . Clinton immediately received scrutiny over these comments , including when Dickerson highlighted a Tweet from a viewer reading , " Never before have I heard someone use 9/11 to justify millions of Wall Street donations , " which drew thunderous applause from the audience , and led to both Sanders and O'Malley also attacking Clinton for those comments . Post-debate criticisms arose from all across the political spectrum , from Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus , to Clinton 's own former campaign manager , Patti Solis Doyle , who said that the 9/11 reference would 've been better used in the previous discussion on terrorism and foreign policy , not justifying her Wall Street connections
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
2016 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums