Sen. Bernard Sanders said he doesn’t “hate” Hillary Clinton — but that he’s not quite there yet on formally endorsing the likely Democratic presidential nominee.

“No, I do not hate Secretary Clinton,” Mr. Sanders said in an interview that aired Thursday evening on MSNBC. “I’ve known her for 25 years. I have a lot of respect for her. We’ve worked together. We have disagreements on issues, but to say that I hate her is absolutely untrue.”

At a rally this week, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump said Mr. Sanders “hates” Mrs. Clinton.

“He has read my mind. What a man. What a genius,” Mr. Sanders said sarcastically.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden, meanwhile, turned some heads this week when he said in an interview with NPR that he’s spoken to Mr. Sanders and that the Vermont senator said he is “going to” endorse Mrs. Clinton.

Mr. Sanders, who has said he plans to vote for Mrs. Clinton, said he’s not quite there yet, however.

“Joe and I talked about three weeks ago,” Mr. Sanders said. “Right now, my hope is that we can reach an agreement on some very important issues, and I can go forward to the millions of people who supported me and say look, this is the progress you’ve made. This is where [we’re] going to go as a country.”

“So I hope it happens. As of this moment, we’re not there quite yet,” he said.