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Former President Bill Clinton faced criticism on Monday for telling voters that the country needed to “put the awful legacy of the last eight years behind us,” comments widely interpreted as being critical of President Obama.

Speaking at a campaign rally for his wife in Spokane, Wash., Mr. Clinton delivered his usual remarks about the economic progress he made as president, the consequences of Republican economic policies that benefit the wealthy, and Hillary Clinton’s proposals now for job and wage growth.

Mr. Clinton said: “If you believe we can all rise together, if you believe we’ve finally come to the point where we can put the awful legacy of the last eight years behind us and the seven years before that when we were practicing trickle-down economics, then you should vote for her because she’s the only person who basically had good ideas, will tell you how she’s going to pay for them.”

The Clintons regularly praise Mr. Obama, who remains popular among Democratic primary voters. But Republicans promptly seized on Mr. Clinton’s remarks, which an aide said was referring to the Republican-led Congress, as a sign of tension between Mr. Clinton and Mr. Obama, who clashed during Mrs. Clinton’s 2008 campaign. “Bill Clinton Blasts ‘Awful Legacy of the Last Eight Years’ of Obama Presidency,” reads the headline of the online Breitbart News Network.

But it wasn’t just Republicans joining the chorus. Senator Bernie Sanders, who Mrs. Clinton has criticized as not always being supportive of Mr. Obama, said on Twitter: “Don’t know that I’d call President Obama’s 72 straight months of job growth an ‘awful legacy.’”

Don’t know that I’d call President Obama's 72 straight months of job growth an “awful legacy.” https://t.co/GUzlY6Wp4h — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 22, 2016

A spokesman for Mr. Clinton, Angel Urena, said Mr. Clinton was referring to the Republican members of Congress who “made it their number one goal to block” Mr. Obama “at every turn.”

“President Clinton believes, and says frequently,” Mr. Urena said, “that President Obama doesn’t get the credit he deserves for setting us back on course for economic prosperity.”