Hillary Clinton made news this week with her stinging remarks about Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in an upcoming documentary series. The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee claimed that Sanders allows his most fervent supporters to engage in misogynist attacks — something she asserts impacted her campaign in the 2016 general election, and could have an impact on the 2020 race, in which Sanders' polling and fundraising has surged this month.

“Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done,” Clinton said of Sanders, whom she called a “career politician,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. “It's all just baloney, and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.”

When asked if she would commit to endorsing Sanders or campaigning for him should he be selected as the Democratic nominee, Clinton deflected (Sanders did as much for her in 2016). Then she added, “I will say, however, that it's not only him; it's the culture around him,” pointing to his staff, supporters, and (of course) “Bernie Bros.” Clinton repeated her criticisms in a Los Angeles Times interview, claiming Sanders himself turned a blind eye to, or even approved and allowed, what his “rabid followers” do.

The Sanders-bashing press tour is a preview for the release of Hillary, a new Hulu docuseries dropping in March — smack in the middle of 2020 primary season. It’s worth asking if picking at the scabs of 2016 is the best use of a famous Democratic official’s voice ahead of an extremely consequential election that precedes an even more consequential election in November. But, more importantly to me, Clinton’s comments also demonstrate a lack of understanding of the potency of Sanders’s support, and how out of touch she is with the political realities that are motivating some voters.

A second term for Trump could be devastating, both domestically and globally. Urgent leadership is needed at the international level to address the climate crisis. The Trump administration’s judicial appointments have the potential to reshape our civil rights for decades — if not generations — to come. And no policy issue can account for the profound psychic trauma Trump’s presidency has unleashed on the communities he targets politically.

Clinton knows this. Asked by the LA Times about the hullabaloo over Sanders and misogyny that broke out last week during a dispute with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Clinton declined to answer directly, saying, “The most important goal is to nominate somebody who can beat Trump. Everything else is a sideshow.”

If that’s true, then it’s odd that Clinton herself seems eager to distract from the main event. Though she wrote on Twitter that “the number one priority for our country and world is retiring Trump, and, as I always have, I will do whatever I can to support our nominee,” her attacks on Sanders help set the stage for another divisive Democratic primary. Whether or not Sanders wins the nomination, remarks like Clinton’s seem perfectly primed to convince his supporters that the party’s elite is not in his — and therefore, their — corner.

Clinton’s eagerness to frame her criticism of Sanders’s 2020 campaign through the lens of 2016 ignores that this is a different campaign. Following criticism of the homogeneity in his inner circle, Sanders has surrounded himself with a more racially diverse group that includes several women. He’s demonstrated that he understands clearly (if ruefully) that his identity as an old white guy could make it harder for younger, nonwhite voters to relate to him. Through it all, Sanders has tried to evolve the political pitch he sold in 2016 so that it feels more in touch with an era when identity politics are both much-maligned and hugely influential.