US elections 2016: Hillary Clinton says she'll beat Donald Trump because people dislike his 'bigotry and bluster'

Democratic candidates both say they have what it takes to keep the Republican frontrunner from the White House

Hillary Clinton is confident she will beat Donald Trump in the US presidential election this November because his “bigotry, bullying and bluster are not going to wear well on the American people”.

Speaking at the end of the Democratic presidential debate both Ms Clinton and Bernie Sanders said they were confident they were going to win the race to the White House over the Republican frontrunner.

Ms Clinton - who is leading the primary contest against Mr Sanders - said she had already won more delegates than Mr Trump.

Mr Sanders said he would “love” to run against Mr Trump and said several opinion polls show him faring better against him than Ms Clinton.

During the debate in Flint, Michigan - where residents are suffering from a water shortage after the city’s supply was contaminated - the candidates frequently interrupted each other and accused each other of misrepresenting their records.

"Let's have some facts instead of some rhetoric for a change," Ms Clinton snapped at Mr Sanders at one point.

"Let me tell my story, you tell yours," Mr Sanders shot back at another. "Your story is voting for every disastrous trade amendment and voting for corporate America".

Both Ms Clinton and Mr Sanders say they can beat Donald Trump (Getty Images)

But Ms Clinton noted the debate was markedly more civil than the final Republican debate which the CNN subtitles simply described as “unintelligible yelling” at one point.

The former secretary of state said although she and Mr Sanders disagree on policy, voters should "compare the substance of this debate with what you saw on the Republican stage last week".

Ms Clinton and Mr Trump look set to become their respective parties’ nominee after they both decisively pulled ahead following primary contests over the weekend.

Mr Sanders won the Maine, Kansas and Nebraska caucuses but Ms Clinton’s win in the much larger Louisiana primary race cancelled out his gains.

Meanwhile, although Mr Trump’s rival Marco Rubio took all of the 23 delegates on offer at the Puerto Rico primary after taking more than 50 per cent of the vote, the billionaire reality star is too far ahead following Super Tuesday for it to make much of a difference.

Mr Trump also took Louisiana and Kentucky over the weekend whereas his other main rival Ted Cruz took Kansas and Maine.

Additional reporting by AP