Even though Bernie Sanders immediately took to Twitter and called Donald Trump "shameful" for his comments on Wednesday regarding "punishment" for women who would have abortions, Hillary Clinton is now using the incident as an opportunity to attack her Democratic rival by suggesting to voters that Sanders does not take the issue of women's choice seriously enough.

"Last night, Sen. Sanders agreed Donald Trump’s comments were shameful," Clinton said during a campaign rally in Purchase, New York on Thursday. "Then he said they were a distraction from the, and I quote, 'serious discussion about serious issues facing America.'"

This was a reference to remarks Sanders made in an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Wednesday night just after Trump's comments were making headlines nationwide.

"Shameful," Sanders told Maddow during their exchange, "is probably understating [my] position. First of all, to me, and I think to most Americans, women have the right to control their own bodies and they have the right to make those personal decisions themselves. But to punish a woman for having an abortion is beyond comprehension."

He continued, "So obviously, from my perspective, and if elected president, I will do everything that I can to allow women to make that choice and have access to clinics all over this country so that if they choose to have an abortion, they will be able to do so."

Though MSNBC acknowledged in its online reporting that Sanders never used the word "distraction" to describe either the issue of abortion or Trump's comments—and clarified that only later in their exchange did Sanders make the larger critique about how the media has consistently given too much attention to whatever absurdity comes out of the bombastic billionaire's mouth—Clinton made no such distinction in her speech on Thursday.

Despite having access to the full scope of Sanders' remarks, Clinton portrayed Sanders as someone who had blown off Trump's remarks as inconsequential. "To me, this is a serious issue and it is a serious discussion," she told the crowd in New York, drawing an implied contrast. "We need a president who is passionate about this… seeing it as a top priority because women’s health is under assault."

The insinuation that Sanders does not consider a women's right to choose as a "serious issue" compared to Clinton then became a story-line repeatedly put forth by MSNBC anchors throughout Thursday afternoon.

In response, while he didn't name Clinton directly, Sanders campaign spokesperson Michael Briggs released a statement directly to MSNBC in which he said: "Donald Trump's statement about punishing women who have abortions is an outrage. It is unbelievable that a candidate for president would make such an absurd statement. Sen. Sanders has a 100 percent lifetime voting record defending a woman’s right to choose and will do all that he can to protect and expand that right if elected president."

As New York Times political reporter Evan Halper noted:

The sharp rebuke of Sanders at a time Clinton would prefer to be focusing on Trump was another reminder that despite her commanding delegate lead, Sanders remains a threat to Clinton’s campaign. She is working hard to draw contrasts with him in her home state of New York, where a win by Sanders in the April 19 primary would raise a fresh round of questions about Clinton’s flaws as a candidate.

For those wondering if Sanders comments regarding Trump and his position on abortion were taken out of context or mischaracterized by Clinton, watch it below:

And the unedited transcript from that segment of the interview follows: