'Of Course' Hillary Clinton is Qualified to Be President, Sanders Clarifies
Bernie Sanders on Friday clarified comments he made earlier this week questioning rival Hillary Clinton’s qualifications to be president.
“The Clinton campaign has changed its tone” after losing seven of the past eight presidential nominating contests in the lead-up to the New York primary, Sanders told NBC’s Today show.
“I’ve know Hillary Clinton for 25 years. I respect Hillary Clinton. We were colleagues in the Senate, and on her worst day, she would be an infinitely better president than either of the Republican candidates,” he said. Asked directly by host Savannah Guthrie whether Clinton was qualified to be president, Sanders replied, “Of course.”
The fresh comments mark a contrast from what Sanders’ take has been over the past several days, stemming from what he saw as attacks on his own qualifications from the Clinton campaign.
On Wednesday night, hours after Clinton repeatedly did not directly answer Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough’s question on whether Sanders was qualified, the Vermont senator sparked a media frenzy when he said at an event: “She has been saying lately that she thinks I am quote, unquote ‘not qualified’ to be president. I don’t believe that she is qualified … if she is, through her super PAC, taking tens of millions of dollars in special interests funds.”
“I don’t think that you are ‘qualified’ if you get $15 million from Wall Street through your super PAC,” he said. “I don’t think you are ‘qualified’ if you have voted for the disastrous war in Iraq. I don’t think you are ‘qualified’ if you have supported virtually every disastrous trade agreement.”
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