Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton found a defender Thursday in “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough, who said Clinton never explicitly said her Democratic presidential rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was “unqualified” to be President.

Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida, said Clinton dodged his direct question about whether she thought Sanders was qualified for the nation’s highest office.

“I tried to get Hillary Clinton four times – three or four times – to say that Bernie Sanders was unqualified to be President of the United States,” he said. “I keep going until I get an answer or give up and after three or four attempts with Secretary Clinton, I gave up because she was not going to say the words ‘He is unqualified to be President of the United States.’”

Scarborough then asked MSNBC contributor Mike Barnicle if his take away from the interview was Clinton arguing that Sanders isn’t qualified.

“No, she clearly did not say Bernie Sanders was not qualified to be President,” Barnicle agreed. “This is going to be a 12-day tension convention here in New York state between Sen. Sanders and Secretary Clinton.”

Co-host Mika Brzezinski pointed out Clinton said Sanders hadn’t “done his homework” about how to restructure the big banks.

“But she never said he was not qualified,” Scarborough responded.

Scarborough pressed Clinton three times on whether Sanders is ready to be President on Wednesday’s show. Clinton didn’t explicitly call the senator “unqualified,” but did say Sanders “hasn’t done his homework” and has been talking about “doing things that he obviously hasn’t really studied or understood.”

Clinton also questioned Sanders’ credentials as a Democrat in two Wednesday interviews, including on MSNBC. Sanders hit back over the remarks, saying “I don’t believe that she is qualified.”