GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Bernie Sanders, on the morning before he and Hillary Clinton square off in a debate in Flint, said Republicans are doing a disservice to the electorate by dumbing down their discussions.

"They really do sound like sixth-grade food fights, where amazingly enough adults in their 50s and 60s are throwing food at each other and cursing at each other and making fun of each other and insulting each other," Sanders said in a Saturday, March 5 interview.

"I think that is not what the American people want. The American people know we have some serious problems and they want to hear some serious solutions to those problems, not vicious personal attacks."

The Vermont senator in an interview with Mlive and The Grand Rapids Press reiterated his desire to tax Wall Street speculation to pay for free college tuition at public colleges and universities. He railed against the bailouts that kept financial institutions alive and said it is time for policies that benefit the poor and middle-class, not the wealthy.