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LAS VEGAS — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said Thursday that rapper Killer Mike’s recent comments that a “uterus doesn’t qualify you to be president of the United States” have been “blown out of proportion” by the media covering his race against Hillary Clinton.

The Democratic presidential candidate told reporters traveling with him to Nevada that the rapper was essentially saying that “people should not be voting for candidates based on their gender but what they believe. I think that makes sense.”

“No one has ever heard me say, ‘Hey guys, let’s stand together, vote for a man.’ I would never do that, never have,” Sanders said. “I think in a presidential race, we look at what a candidate stands for and we vote for the candidate we think can best serve our country.”

The rapper, whose real name is Michael Render, stirred controversy Tuesday night at a Sanders rally when he suggested Clinton would be slow to move on issues of racial justice. He referenced a recent conversation with anti-racism activist Jane Elliott.

Killer Mike said: “I talked to Jane Elliott a few weeks ago, and Jane said, ‘Michael, a uterus doesn’t qualify you to be president of the United States. You have to be — you have to have policy that’s reflective of social justice.’”