Bernie Sanders walks back 'unqualified' dig at Hillary Clinton

Bernie Sanders walks back Clinton &quot;unqualified&quot; remark

(Image credit: CBS Evening News/YouTube)

last updated 8 April 2016

On Thursday's CBS Evening News, Charlie Rose asked Sen. Bernie Sanders about his comments that Hillary Clinton is "not qualified" to be president and the increasingly ugly tone of the Democratic presidential race. Clinton earlier in the day had called Sanders' attack "kind of a silly statement," adding, "But he's free to say whatever he chooses." Rose asked Sanders if he meant it: "Do you feel Secretary Clinton is unqualified to be president?" Sanders responded, "Well, does Secretary Clinton believe I am unqualified to be president?" (She did not say that; Sanders pointed to a Washington Post headline that suggested she had.)

Rose pressed on, noting that the former senator and secretary of state has a pretty long résumé. "She has years of experience, she is extremely intelligent," Sanders said. "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." Rose asked Sanders if he is "embarrassed" about the personal attacks and tenor of the campaign, and would like to shift back to the issues? "Good. I like it," Sanders said. "Yup." But Rose wasn't done asking about the attacks.

He noted that Sanders had blamed Clinton for Iraq War deaths, since she voted to authorize the war, then asked if Sanders also blames every other senator who voted for the war. Sanders said no, but that Clinton should not have suggested he apologize for the murder of children at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Rose pulled an Anderson Cooper. "That's not a reason, I promise you, to say, 'I'm saying it because they attacked me,'" he told Sanders. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.