Sanders: 'Does Secretary Clinton Believe That I Am Unqualified To Be President?'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., was pressed Thursday on the CBS Evening News about his recent comments saying that Hillary Clinton is not qualified for president.
Sanders came to the CBS Broadcast Center, 524 W. 57th St., for an interview on the Thursday evening broadcast, CBS2's Brian Conybeare reported. Charlie Rose asked the Democratic presidential hopeful if he believes Clinton is unqualified to be president.
"Well, does Secretary Clinton believe that I am unqualified to be president?" Sanders questioned.
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Rose asked Sanders why he simply can't say "yes," that she is unqualified.
"She had years of experience. She is extremely intelligent," the Vermont senator responded.
Rose pressed Sanders, once again, why he can't say Clinton is unqualified for president.
"Because she is – you know – I have some experience, too. I have a pretty good record in Congress, as a senator, as a mayor. I think I am qualified to be president. So, to answer your question, you're right," Sanders told CBS News. "We should not get into this tit-for-tat. We should be debating the issues facing the American people. All I am saying is that if people are going to attack us, if they're going to distort our record, as has been the case time and time again, we're going to respond."
During a campaign rally at Temple University in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Sanders questioned whether Clinton is "qualified" to be president.
"She has been saying lately that she thinks that I am quote unquote not qualified to be president," Sanders told a crowd of more than 10,000 people at Temple University's Liacouras Center. "I don't believe that she is qualified if she is, through her super PAC, taking tens of millions of dollars in special-interest funds."
Sanders also said Clinton is not qualified because of her vote on the war in Iraq and her support for trade agreements that he says are harmful to American workers.
It's the latest salvo in a war of words that has gotten increasingly heated as underdog Sanders has gained ground on front-runner Clinton, capped by the Vermont senator's victory in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary.
Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon responded quickly to Sanders' comment, writing on Twitter: "Hillary Clinton did not say Bernie Sanders was `not qualified.' But he has now -- absurdly -- said it about her. This is a new low."
Indeed, Clinton did not say Sanders was "unqualified" or "not qualified" during a much-quoted interview Wednesday morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
In a discussion of an interview with Sanders that appeared in the New York Daily News, Clinton was asked if "Bernie Sanders is qualified and ready to be president of the United States."
She responded, "Well, I think he hadn't done his homework and he'd been talking for more than a year about doing things that he obviously hadn't really studied or understood, and that does raise a lot of questions."
The former secretary of state laughed off Sanders' comment Thursday.
"Well, it's kind of a silly thing to say," she told reporters outside Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, according to CBS News. "But I'm going to trust the voters of New York who know me and have voted for me three times – twice for Senate and once in the presidential primary."
Sanders did tell CBS News that he will support Clinton if she is the Democratic nominee.
Clinton currently has a sizable delegate lead over Sanders – 1,748 to 1,052.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
